


Enemies of the Heir

by roryfreisthler



Series: Her Father's Hair [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Adoptive Family Incest, Age Difference, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Dark, Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Astral sex, Autistic Draco Malfoy, BDSM, Biracial Harry Potter, Biracial main character, Bisexual Character, Bisexual Female Character, Bisexual Harry Potter, Bisexual main character, Black Family, Black Family (Harry Potter) - Freeform, Blackcest, Bond of blood charm, Book 2: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Book: The Tales of Beedle the Bard, Canon Bisexual Character, Chamber of Secrets, Character Death, Child Abuse, Daily Prophet, Dark Harry, Dark Harry Potter, Dementor's Kiss, Dementors, Dubious Consent, Dubiously Consensual Possession, Elder Wand, Emotional Manipulation, Evil Dumbledore, Explicit Sexual Content, F/F, F/M, Father/Daughter Incest, Female Harry, Female Harry Potter, Gen, Hogwarts Second Year, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Invisibility Cloak (Harry Potter), Magical Exhaustion, Magical manipulation, Manipulation, Mind Sex, Minor Character Death, Multi, Not Canon Compliant - Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Parent/Child Incest, Past Child Abuse, Patronus, Period-Typical Homophobia, Period-Typical Transphobia, Possession, Power Dynamics, Power Imbalance, Retelling, Rosa Lee Teabag, Sexual Harassment, Sibling Incest, Sister/Sister Incest, Slow Burn, Slow Burn Harry Potter/Hermione Granger, Slow Burn Harry Potter/Voldemort, Slytherin Ginny Weasley, Smut, Sword of Gryffindor, The Deathly Hallows, The Marauder's Map, Tom Riddle | Voldemort Adopts Harry Potter, Tom Riddle's Diary, Tomarry Smut, Trans Character, Trans Female Character, Wartime, Wizarding Politics, Wizarding Wars, magical sex, mental sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-15
Updated: 2018-08-25
Packaged: 2019-04-23 07:42:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 45
Words: 51,802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14327793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roryfreisthler/pseuds/roryfreisthler
Summary: Lily Slytherin, the new Crown Princess of the Dark Side, returns to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry with a two-part mission: create a scandal at Hogwarts by instructing the Basilisk to attack unworthy attendees, and figure out a way for her father to break into the school so he can reunite his diary Horcrux with the rest of him.And she needs to balance that mission with her own personal goal: making Hermione Granger properly hers, without making her run away. Can the Dark Princess fulfill her mission and get the girl, or will something go awry?Book OneBook Three





	1. Back to Hogwarts

It was a week before the start of term at Hogwarts when Lily’s father pressed a small book into her hand and told her it was important.

“What is it?” she asked, turning the book over in her hands. 

“It’s a part of my soul,” was her father’s simple answer.

Lily almost dropped it in shock, but managed to keep ahold of it, thinking that it would be a very poor precedent to drop something that is important. “Like… like me?” she asked.

“Yes,” he said. “But inanimate.”

Her father then proceeded to inform her that now that they have the Sorcerer’s Stone, he doesn’t really need Horcruxes anymore. Of course, he still intends to keep  _ her  _ as a Horcrux, because it would be very hard to undo  _ that  _ without either killing her or the soul piece contained inside her, and it’s just convenient to have a Horcrux in the form of his heiress. But the other six? It’s time to reunite them with the rest of him.

“How do you do that?” Lily asked.

“It involves returning to the site that the Horcrux was created, and performing restorative magic. In this case, that will be difficult, as the site of this Horcrux’s creation was the Chamber of Secrets, in Hogwarts,” he answered her. 

Lily’s expression was very  _ the WHAT?,  _ so he explained. “The Chamber of Secrets was created by Salazar Slytherin as a secret location in Hogwarts that could be used for a multitude of purposes, but its main creation was as a secret refuge. He didn’t believe in admitting Muggleborn students to Hogwarts, because they would bring an inherent connection to the Muggle world, and put the Wizarding world at risk. It eventually became a location for Dark-aligned students to learn and practice magic that was not approved of by the other founders and teachers, but that stopped once Salazar Slytherin’s heir was not in attendance at Hogwarts. During my time at Hogwarts as Salazar Slytherin’s heir, I used it for that purpose, as well as… other purposes,” he said.

“Other purposes, like creating a Horcrux,” Lily nodded.

“And purifying the school of unworthy attendees. You see, there’s a Basilisk in the chamber, that can be used by Salazar Slytherin’s heir for just that purpose,” he added.

Yeah, okay, so some days Lily was very aware that she was the  _ Dark  _ Princess of the Wizarding World, and today was one of those. “Let me guess. This year, I’m supposed to continue your mission? And also figure out a way for you to get into Hogwarts so you can reunite your Horcrux with the rest of you?” Lily felt a twisting feeling in the pit of her stomach. Purifying the school of unworthy attendees… Hermione could have been considered such an unworthy attendee, and  _ might  _ have been if she’d never taken the blood test that had been administered by Narcissa in their first year. Did unworthy attendees mean Muggleborns?

“No,” her father answered, and with that answer, she was relieved that he was capable of reading her mind. “Our ancestor was slightly overkill in his worries of us being exposed to the Muggle world. For all of the disasters that the Ministry of Magic has caused, they  _ have  _ created laws that make it such that Muggleborns, or anyone else, will not reveal the existence of the Wizarding world to Muggles who would be prone to attack us. But - yes. This year  _ will  _ involve more bloodshed than last year, by necessity. We want to create a frenzy, make everyone aware of how useless Dumbledore is as a headmaster, that he cannot protect his students.”

“Couldn’t that just include me coming public about what the…  _ possessed _ Potions professor did to me?” Lily asked. 

“Unfortunately, the Wizarding world won’t care,” her father answered. “The problem is gone, and although Dumbledore did nothing to solve it, that’s what will matter to them. The parents need to become aware of an active problem - like something in the school attacking its attendees.”

“Attacking who?” Lily asked. 

“Well… enemies of the heir of Salazar Slytherin,” her father said, with a smile. “I’m sure you will be smart in your choices.”

He didn’t say anything else. He just walked away, leaving Lily with the ambiguous instruction of using a mysterious chamber and Basilisk to smartly destroy unworthy attendees of the school.

Okay, so this year was bound to be interesting.

***

“LILY!!” The first thing that Hermione did when she saw Lily at King’s Cross Station was run to her, wind messing up her hair even more than usual, and grab her in a hug. Lily beamed, glad that the other girl’s attachment to her hadn’t disappeared over the summer. 

“I missed you so much!” Hermione said, once Lily had released her from the hug. Her expression was sad. “I can’t believe your aunt and uncle didn’t let you send owls to  _ anyone. _ ”

“Yeah…” Lily sighed. “Well, they think I’m gross because I’m magic, so you know.  _ That’s  _ fun. But at least I can see you now,” There was no way she could mention to Hermione where she was  _ really  _ living, and what had been done to her aunt and uncle - mind arts, so that they wouldn’t say anything about her not living with them over the summers. Mind arts, not so coincidentally, had also been done to Professor Snape, to ensure that he was more or less personality-less but still able to serve as a Death Eater within Hogwarts.

“Can we sit together on the train?” Hermione asked.

“Duh,” Lily said with a smile.

They ended up sitting in a group with Eva, Draco, and some other Slytherin girls. Draco didn’t seem to mind sitting with a bunch of girls, thankfully.

“I can’t believe that Professor Snape was possessed by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named,” one of the Slytherin girls said in a hushed voice as the train took off towards Hogwarts.

“Maybe we shouldn’t talk about that…. Lily had to  _ face _ him,” Hermione said, putting a protective arm over Lily’s shoulder.

Lily shot a grateful glance at Hermione. Really, she was grateful - all of the Slytherins knew that the whole possession thing was a complete farce - even if their parents hadn’t told them as soon as they’d gotten back from Hogwarts, they’d learned the truth at one of many Dark Side functions over the summer. 

Just then, a knock came at the door of their compartment. “Come in,” Lily called.

The door opened to reveal an anxious Colin Creevey. “My Princess, can I sit with you? I don’t have anywhere else to sit…”

Lily looked at the other girls in the compartment, who, aside from Hermione, had slightly irritated looks on their faces. “Sure,” She had to continue looking like the Light Side’s little lamb, after all, and that involved taking pity - blech - on an annoying Gryffindor boy in her year.

Creevey squeezed into the compartment, sitting much closer to Lily than was to her liking. 

“So. Ladies… and Draco…” Creevey noted Draco Malfoy’s presence, blushing “... how

was your summer?”

“Not so great, but I’m glad to be back at Hogwarts,” Lily answered.  _ Ladies.  _ Ugh. 


	2. Sorting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ginny Weasley is sorted into Slytherin.

Eventually, after a very awkward conversation, Lily, Hermione and Colin Creevey separated from the Slytherins to head to the Gryffindor table. Lily took her typical seat at the center of the table, with Hermione behind her, and she looked over the Great Hall that housed many students who were hers, and some who weren’t - yet. 

Some of the small ones (and wow, they really did look small, had she really been  _ that  _ small last year?) walked into the Great Hall with shy smiles or an air of superiority, and she could tell that they would end up either Slytherins or Gryffindors. Either way, they would learn to call her Princess. This satisfied her, especially when she saw a telltale flash of red hair among the crowd, a girl with a shy smile on her face. “Is that one of yours?” she asked, turning to Percy.

“Well… in a way. It’s my little sister, Ginny,” Percy answered her. 

“Mum’s so happy to finally have a girl going to Hogwarts,” Ron spoke up from further down the table. “She’s bound to send her  _ so  _ much food to spoil her. It’ll be disgusting.”

Lily thought she saw a small flicker of a sad expression cross Percy’s face, but she thought nothing of it. Probably just that he wasn’t going to be the favorite of the students who were attending Hogwarts anymore. Hmm… maybe she could use that. If he was desperate for approval…

Most of the sortings were unremarkable, except for the fact that the Gryffindors now followed Lily’s lead and  _ actually  _ clapped as politely when someone was sorted into Slytherin as they did when someone was sorted into Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff. Soon, “Weasley, Ginny,” was called, and the four elder Weasleys watched in rapt attention as Ginny stepped up to the stool and the hat was lowered over her head.

The Great Hall was silent for a few moments, and the twins exchanged worried looks. Lily was almost surprised that they didn’t say something for the entire Hall to hear about how “she’s our sister, of course she’s Gryffindor!”

It took a little over three minutes before the Hat made its decision from the moment that it had been placed on Ginny’s head - Lily could tell as much because Percy muttered partway through that in two minutes, it would count as a Hatstall. Every moment that passed, the twins and Ron looked more anguished, until a collective groan came up from the Gryffindor table when Ginny was pronounced Slytherin.

“That’s unfair! The Hat’s not allowed to put her in Slytherin when she wants Gryffindor!” Ron yelled, standing up from the Gryffindor table. 

Draco stood up from the Slytherin table, where everyone was cheering, and yelled back “As if! The Hat doesn’t put someone in Slytherin who doesn’t want to be there!”

“It’s true,” Lily said quietly, thinking back to her own Sorting. She almost regretted not choosing Slytherin one year ago, but that would have  _ actually  _ put Dumbledore on her tail. Plus, being in Gryffindor meant she had easier access to her Hermione’s bed. 

“Well, having Ginny in Slytherin will certainly promote inter-House unity!” Percy said in a loud voice, beaming at the rest of the table. It didn’t even seem entirely faked.

“Yeah, right up until Mum sends a Howler to her for being a traitor to the family,” Ron said, rolling his eyes.

Watching the Weasley family drama, Lily wished that  _ Molly Weasley  _ was currently attending Hogwarts.  _ She  _ certainly seemed like the kind of person who would be worthy prey for the Basilisk.

***

After lights out in the Gryffindor dormitory, Lily poked Hermione awake. It didn’t take much - she had only been half asleep. “Come on!” she whispered, dangling the invisibility cloak in front of Hermione. “Let’s go!” 

“Go where?” Hermione said groggily, blinking up at Lily.

“The Slytherin common room. They’re having a party,” Lily answered. They most certainly were - they had a party to welcome the new students every year. And the Dark Princess, who had helped plan it this time, was determined to bring Hermione to it.

“After lights out?” Hermione hissed back at her. 

“They’re  _ Slytherins.  _ What do you expect? Besides, it’ll be fun….” Lily winked at Hermione. Really, had she gotten  _ more  _ rule-abiding over the summer? After everything with the Sorcerer’s Stone the previous year?

“I dunno. Breaking rules is kind of… dangerous,” Hermione said. “Remember? He-who-must-not-be-named almost  _ killed  _ you last year!”

So  _ that  _ was it, because  _ of course  _ it was. “Well, I’m going. I’m not leaving Ginny alone with all of them. Who knows how they’ll treat a Weasley,” Really, Lily was pretty sure the Slytherins would treat Ginny fine - they wouldn’t dare not without approving it with Lily first - but it was an easy way to guilt trip Hermione into coming.

And it worked - Hermione glared at Lily, but got up. “Fine. I’ll come. But I’m not happy about you  _ still  _ breaking the rules after it almost got you killed.”

***

When Lily and Hermione arrived in the Slytherin common room, it seemed that Ginny was already fitting in. Well, more that Draco was flirting with her. Which would be the same thing as fitting in, if she actually was looking like she  _ liked  _ it. 

“So, how did a Weasley like you end up in Slytherin?” a drunk Draco was asking, leering in front of Ginny.

“Um… my great aunt teaches me some stuff… it’s interesting, I like it, that’s probably why…” Ginny picked at the sleeve of her robe. 

“Wow, a Weasley who likes dark magic. How interesting,” Draco was still leering, so Lily marched over to him and grabbed the back of his collar.

“Yeah, she likes dark magic, not people who barely count as dark wizards looking like they’re five seconds from sticking their tongue down her throat,” she said, after pulling him around to face her. Ginny looked very relieved, and Hermione had gone to her side to comfort her. “What would your father think of you flirting with a Weasley?”

“I don’t know,” Draco said, then looked down at his feet. “Please don’t tell him.”

“Quit sexually harassing people, and I won’t tell your father that you’re flirting with a Weasley,” Lily said, and pushed Draco down onto a nearby couch. From across the room, Cassie and Desi Lestrange giggled, as did several other Slytherin girls.

“Yes, the Princess is here, and she doesn’t like you lot being jerks to people, even if they are Weasleys,” Lily said, dusting off her hands. She wasn’t sure if she actually liked Ginny enough to warrant saving her from a similar thing another time, but the girl had ended up in Slytherin and apparently had taken some dark arts lessons from her aunt. She was at least worth paying attention to.

“Please don’t tell my mum about the stuff my great aunt teaches me?” Ginny was pleading to Hermione when Lily got over to the girl.

“I’m not going to. I’ve read some dark arts books, and I wouldn’t want my mum learning about that either. Even if she’s a Muggle,” Hermione reassured Ginny. “And if you’re interested in learning from people closer to your age, I bet Cassie and Desi would teach you,”

“Okay,” Ginny said, giving Hermione a small nod. “Everyone is intimidating.”

_Believe me, kid, they’re more intimidated by you_ , Lily thought, as she sat down near Ginny. A Weasley becoming a part of Slytherin, which was full of kids of dark wizards and witches who had previously felt free to discuss their more illegal activities in the safety of their common room, at least when Hermione wasn’t there?  That disrupted that. 

And speaking of which, she  _ probably  _ needed to talk to the prefects and the kids of the inner circle Death Eaters about what they were going to do about the new snake. 


	3. The Inner Circle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lily meets with her inner circle and discusses what to do about the Weasley situation.

The group that Lily had selected - consisting of the children of her father’s inner circle members and the one prefect who wasn’t a child of one of those members - assembled in the second year dorms. The youngest boy walked in nervously - he was a first year, and clearly hadn’t expected to be entering the girls’ dormitory at the very beginning of his time at Hogwarts. Draco, who had gotten himself much too drunk to be of any use at the meeting, and had humiliated himself much too much to show his face, was not in attendance. 

“Well, why don’t we all introduce ourselves,” Lily suggested, pointing to Eva first - one of the five inner circle children who was a prefect.

“Hello, everyone,” Eva said, waving to the group a little awkwardly. “My name’s Eva Rosier - daughter of Evan Rosier - and I’m the girl prefect for the sixth years. My brother is Evan Rosier Jr, and he’s a first year.”

“We’re Desdemonda, Desi for short and-” “- Cassiopeia, Cassie for short, Lestrange,” the Lestrange twins said, continuing the introduction. “Third years, daughters of Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange.”

“I always find it funny how you have the same name as my mother, Cassie,” a girl with long black hair and brilliant green eyes said, laughing. “My name’s Athanasia, Thana for short. I’m the daughter of Cassiopeia Black, and the fifth year prefect.” 

The introductions continued - Laurel Greengrass, Head Girl, and her second-year sister Daphne, daughters of Antigone Greengrass - Amanda and Julie Avery, fourth and third year daughters of Vivian Avery - Silas, the seventh-year prefect, Tristan, his sixth-year prefect brother, and Cordelia, one year older than Lily, children of Miles Jugson - Flora and Hestia Carrow, third years and adoptive daughters of Alecto and Amycus Carrow - Alexander Yaxley, the fourth year son of Corban Yaxley, and Alice Macnair, the seventh year daughter of Walden Macnair.

And then all of the heads in the room swivelled to the one remaining figure, sitting noticeably separate from the group. “Eleta Dunlap, fifth-year  _ boy  _ prefect. They/them pronouns, though. Muggleborn,” they said, sneering at the word  _ boy  _ but not having the energy to speak their blood status confidently.

“Well, at least you’re not a blood traitor like our houses’ newest addition!” Evan Rosier said, laughing. 

“No, just a no-name Muggleborn who Dumbledore selected because he wanted diversity points by sticking a non-binary Muggleborn in the fifth-year prefect slot for Slytherin,” Eleta said, sighing. 

“Somehow that doesn’t surprise me one bit,” Lily said, but then she fixed her glare on Evan Rosier. “But you. Why would you call Weasley a blood traitor?”

“I think you just answered that question yourself by mentioning her name, my  _ Princess, _ ” Evan answered, rolling his eyes.

Eva’s swift response was to hit him over the head with a book that was near the bed. “Don’t speak to our Princess that way,”

“Thank you, Eva,” Lily said with a smile. She then turned to Evan. “Weasley is not a blood traitor, and that should be evident to you by the fact that she was sorted into our illustrious House and that she has been learning Dark magic. An item that was created partially by Salazar Slytherin claimed her, and she is clearly  _ ours. _ ”

Eleta jumped upon hearing the hiss in Lily’s voice, more snake-like than human. Ah well. The new little prefect would just have to be terrified of the Dark Princess. That was only appropriate. 

“What would you like us to do in order to welcome our newest Slytherin into the fold, my Princess?” Laurel asked.

“I think we need to find out what she knows about Dark magic, and what her education has been like… that will likely lead us to finding out about her political affiliation,” Lily answered. “Athanasia, you’re probably the least threatening Slytherin out of us all, except maybe Eleta, but I wouldn’t want to put the job on them. Why don’t you do the job that Malfoy attempted to start but was too drunk to finish?”

Cassie’s mouth looked a little surprised and nervous, and Lily knew she was wondering what would happen to her cousin.

“Of course, my Princess,” Athanasia answered. “I can do that.”

“And if what the other Weasleys expected is true, our newest Slytherin will be receiving a Howler in the morning from her dear mother. Julie, you can handle comforting her after that happens, if she’s upset - which I expect she will be. I’m almost certain that one of the twins rushed off to Owl their mother about the shocking news, so she’ll know,” Lily instructed the younger Avery girl.

“Yes, My Princess,” Julie answered, smiling and clearly happy to be entrusted with such an important task.

“And, twins, since you’re the only other members of the House of Black who are actually  _ fit  _ to attend tonight’s meeting, I’m giving you two a task. She’s a daughter of the House of Black, regardless of whether your parents will admit that or not. And since she’s been sorted into Slytherin, I’m betting Black magic wants her back. That’ll be a project - make her Black heritage more important to her than any silly Prewett or Weasley heritage,” Lily instructed them.

The twins looked at each other with a smile, clearly concocting devious ideas for how to do this.

“Nothing too dark yet, not without her consent. We need to make her think it’s her choice, even if it’s not,” Lily instructed the twins.

Desi made a bit of an  _ awww.. _ face, but recovered fairly quickly. “Of course, My Princess.”

“There. Any questions?” she asked.

No one had any questions, so she dismissed the group to leave, although she held back Silas.

“Make sure Malfoy stops with the alcohol and goes to sleep. He’s being an absolute nimrod, but he’s twelve. And at least  _ you  _ know how to party responsibly, even if you like to get smashed,” Lily instructed him.

“Of course,” the seventh-year prefect responded. “I’ll make sure he doesn’t get alcohol poisoning or anything.”

“At this point, that might be the most you  _ can  _ do,” Lily said, and with a roll of her eyes got back so she could return to Hermione. 


	4. The Howler

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eva reveals a secret, and Ginny gets a Howler.

After speaking with Silas, Lily walked back to the main common room, where Hermione was sitting with Eva. She knew she didn’t need to supervise Silas - he would surely do fine on dealing with Draco, and by the morning, it would be quite evident how well he had supervised the younger boy. 

“Why is it that boys always turn into such gits at parties?” Hermione was asking Eva, frustrated. “Draco is  _ usually  _ decent, but the way he was treating Ginny earlier… ew…”

Eva rolled her eyes. “So many guys think they need to be  _ so  _ macho in order to look cool. Pretty sure that’s it.”

“Like your brother,” Lily commented, sitting down next to Hermione and putting a casual arm around her shoulder. “By the way…  _ why  _ did they name him Evan if you were already named Eva? Are they that obsessed with you both being mini versions of your dad?”

“Oh,” Eva said, laughing. “Yeah, that is a long story.”

“The night is young,” Lily prodded. The look on Hermione’s face indicated that she very much did  _ not  _ think the night was young, but she didn’t say anything.

“They didn’t name me Eva,” Eva answered, and Lily noticed that she was all of a sudden fidgeting with her robes. “I chose that name for myself. They named me Corvus.”

“Oh, that’s the genus that crows and ravens are in! That’s a pretty cool name,” Hermione said with a smile. “Why did you change it?”

In response to Hermione’s comment, Eva was uncharacteristically silent. “I…” She continued fidgeting with her robes, as more confusion dawned on Hermione’s face.

“Hermione, Corvus is a boy’s name,” Lily answered in a quiet voice. “They thought Eva was a boy.” 

“Thank you for not saying that I  _ was  _ one,” Eva said, and color returned to her cheeks. “I don’t tell many people. Not transfer students or younger ones. I had a hard enough time… in my first year, when I was transitioning.”

“I’m sorry, Eva,” Hermione said in a quiet voice. “Nobody deserves to be treated that way.”

“Snape had to practically be ordered by McGonagall to brew me transition potions,” Eva said, snorting. “He thought it was unnatural, and that I was disgracing the… Rosier family,” Eva stopped herself short, and Lily realized that telling Hermione such an intimate thing, while in the Slytherin common room, must’ve almost made her think that it was safe to say that Snape had told her she was disgracing the Dark Order. 

“And then he got possessed by Voldemort. Natural consequences, I’d say,” Lily said with a shrug, trying to bring some humor into the conversation.

“Don’t say his name!” Hermione said in shock.

“I mean, the man raped me. I know what it’s like to be terrified of him… and I’m terrified of the person. Not the name,” Lily answered. “But, yeah, Eva, that really sucks. And you’d think that Snape would be okay with making potions like that too, considering that it’s politically dark and all that.”

Hermione didn’t respond to that, pretty much agreeing that Lily was correct. Eva rolled her eyes. “Sure, he’s politically dark, but when it comes to being horrible to firsties, he doesn’t really care about them at all. Amazingly, the very light-sided head of  _ Gryffindor  _ House actually taught me transfiguration spells, and helped me get the potion.”

Wow, that was actually impressive. Maybe McGonagall wasn’t as useless as Lily had originally anticipated. The read she’d gotten on McGonagall from the time she’d spent was her was that the witch had considerable talent, but it was all being used for Dumbledore’s aims. It looked like at least sometimes, she thought for herself and helped someone in need acquire “dark” magic. 

“I have a feeling that maybe he’ll be better this year,” Lily said, shrugging. “I mean, having Voldemort take over his body and do horrible things beyond what even he would do might show him that it’s a really shitty idea to be as awful to everyone as he has been being.”

“Dumbledore did mention something about… bitterness making it easy for evil to take control. He mentioned that was why he was so worried about you when you accidentally cast the Cruciatus Curse on Fred Weasley,” Hermione said, pursing her lips. 

“I’m in control,” Lily answered. “Voldemort won’t be able to manipulate me anymore,” Her scar prickled as she said that, as if her father was reminding her that she was indeed his. Hopefully she hadn’t gone too far in attempting to convince the little lion of her loyalty to the light side.

***

The next morning, everyone at the Gryffindor table was settling into breakfast. Fred and George kept on looking over at the Slytherin table, where Ginny was sitting next to a fellow first year, Starling Snyde. 

“That’s a fifth-generation Slytherin,” Fred Weasley hissed in anger. “Her grandparents supported He Who Must Not Be Named, and her mother  _ married  _ her own cousin! How can our sister be associating with her?”

“Why are you judging people for their heritage?” Lily asked, raising an eyebrow. “That sounds like a very pureblood supremacist thing to do.”

“I…” Fred stuttered. “I’m not judging Snyde for her heritage, I’m worried about what kind of influence a girl like that will have on our sister!”

“All purebloods are related, Fred. Snyde just comes from some more… intimate… relations,” Percy said, chastising his little brother. “You don’t need to be judging an eleven-year-old for her family. I’m sure our little sister is getting enough judgment of that kind from her fellow Slytherins for the entire house.”

Hermione looked at Lily with a questioning expression, and Lily shook her head. She did  _ not  _ want to become the go-between for the Gryffindor Weasleys and Ginny. 

“Yikes!” George said, in a tone that didn’t sound like  _ yikes  _ at all, as a red envelope descended from the claws of one of the Hogwarts owls, and onto Ginny’s breakfast plate.

“That’ll be the Howler,” Percy said with a sigh. 

They didn’t have to move closer - the entire Great Hall heard as the Howler exploded and Molly Weasley’s furious voice filled the room. “Ginerva! You have dishonored our family by being sorted into Slytherin! They regard us as blood traitors and have no value for equality or true family! I hope you enjoy your misery as a member of your new Slytherin family, because you do not have a place in ours anymore.”

Lily saw Julie Avery, sitting on the other side of the Slytherin table, reach out to Ginny with a compassionate expression on her face. Good, she was doing her job.

Ron looked at Percy, face pale-white. “Did Mum… just disown Gin?”

Percy’s hands wavered. “I… think she did.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So who else has played Hogwarts Mystery?


	5. Meeting with McGonagall

That morning after Transfiguration, Minerva McGonagall held Lily back. “I would like to talk to you this morning, Potter, if you don’t mind.”

Bristling at the use of her dead biological father’s name and trying not to show it, Lily nodded. “Of course, Professor McGonagall. What did you want to talk about?”

“I think this conversation would be best held in my office,” McGonagall answered. “You have a free period now, and as your Head of House, I think it would be a good idea for you to be having regular meetings with me considering what happened last year.”

“Like an accountability partner so I don’t go crazy and accidentally Crucio Fred Weasley again?” Lily asked in a slightly sarcastic tone. 

McGonagall looked down her nose at Lily. “Partially, Miss Potter. Also so that we know if you are being hurt by anyone.”

Lily tried to assess Professor McGonagall as she walked with her to her office. She’d helped Eva, and she seemed like  _ maybe  _ she cared, but why hadn’t they started something like this  _ earlier _ ? Dumbledore had, quite literally, thought that she needed to be abused by the Dursleys in order to believe she wasn’t special. But apparently being “raped by Voldemort” was too much. Would he have stepped in if he’d found out that Vernon Dursley was raping her, Lily wondered? Or was it only the fact that it was “You Know Who” being the one who raped her that set off alarm bells?

“So Eva told me about how you helped her transition in her first year,” Lily said once she and McGonagall were settled in the office. “Was that hard for you to do?”

McGonagall faced Lily with a curious look. “No, why would it have been?”

“She told me you faced some opposition from Snape. That he’d thought it unnatural,” Lily answered.

The corner of McGonagall’s mouth turned up in a smile. “Of course I faced opposition from Severus. He thrived on making the lives of first years miserable, mysteriously even first-year Slytherins. It’s likely why He Who Must Not Be Named ended up choosing him for his possession. I can only hope he’s learned his lesson.”

Lily did her best to keep her face neutral in response to what McGonagall had said, but she wouldn’t have been surprised if a smirk slipped through. Chose him for his possession indeed - and he was her possession now, too. Snape’s outrageous behavior at the end of her first year had resulted in Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange, two of the most inner-circle Death Eaters, getting “custody” of him for the summer to break him according to their Lord and Princess’s will. She didn’t know the full details of what they’d done, but the Lestrange twins had reassured her that Snape would be  _ very  _ different this year. “But Dumbledore was in favor of letting Eva transition?”

“Oh, I didn’t ask Dumbledore. I merely sent Miss Rosier on her way armed with Transfiguration spells, and a note from me,” McGonagall continued to smile. “There’s a reason I was a Slytherin for the first five years of my Hogwarts career.”

Lily blinked. “You switched houses?”

“I was a hatstall,” McGonagall explained. “The Hat took quite a lot of time deciding between Gryffindor and Slytherin, and I eventually caved and let it choose Slytherin. After my OWLs, however, and observing the rampant cheating and sabotage that occured between fifth-year students, I transferred to Gryffindor for my NEWT years. I’m glad you were sorted into a house that cares about loyalty.”

Lily couldn’t help but feel enraged at what had happened with Professor McGonagall. Cheating and sabotage in the house that  _ she  _ was an adoptive descendant of the founder of had turned McGonagall, clearly a bright witch, away from being a part of it. No doubt Dumbledore and other Gryffindors had helped her make that decision, but still; if her morals hadn’t been so thoroughly violated by the members of Slytherin House, maybe she would now be a Death Eater at Hogwarts, just like the head of Slytherin was.

As she thought  _ that,  _ her scar pulsed with pain, and she unconsciously lifted a hand to her forehead.

“Does your scar hurt?” Professor McGonagall asked. Lily nodded.

“It’s connected to one of the most famous Slytherins of them all. I wouldn’t be surprised if he has more of a connection to you now, after…. the incident of last year…. and can tell that someone is speaking negatively about Slytherin House in your presence,” The professor’s brows furrowed, and she was clearly in deep thought. “Would you be amenable to having Occlumency lessons from Professor Snape in order so that He Who Must Not Be Named cannot exploit this connection?”

Lily gaped at McGonagall. She was actually being  _ helpful? _

“Occlumency, of course, is the art of protecting one’s mind from invasion. He Who Must Not Be Named is a renowned Legilimens, and is skilled at doing the invasion part. Professor Snape is one of two individuals at Hogwarts who nearly matches him for that ability…” McGonagall grew quiet, and Lily realized with a shock that she must be a fairly good Occlumens herself. She hadn’t picked up on any of the thoughts or memories that unconsciously tended to drift towards her when she was in a one on one conversation with someone, not even any emotionally charged ones about leaving Slytherin. It unnerved her. She’d grown so used to unconsciously possessing a degree of Legilimency that meeting an Occlumens felt like a threat. She’d just used her ability the previous night to read Eva during their intense conversation, after all.

“Who’s the other one?” Lily asked.

“Of course, you… would not want to have your mind penetrated by one whose body had been used to do such an unspeakable act,”  _ Another kind of penetration,  _ Lily thought. “The other person who is skilled at Occlumency and Legilimency is Headmaster Dumbledore. Perhaps lessons with him would be in order.”

Lily stiffened. McGonagall might be a Gryffindor now, but the Slytherin in Lily knew exactly what she was doing. She hadn’t gotten enough information from the suspiciously Slytherin-affiliated Girl Who Lived in their first conversation, so she was going to toss her over to Albus Dumbledore for  _ interrogation,  _ disguised as education.

“Can I think about it?” Lily asked in a timid voice. 

“Certainly,” Professor McGonagall said with a smile. But Lily doubted that she’d really have an option. 


	6. Conversations

That evening, instead of returning to the Gryffindor or Slytherin common room, Lily went straight to Professor Snape’s office. She stormed in, glaring at him.

“Your mistakes have caused an issue for the Dark Order once again, Severus,”

Snape looked up at her, blinking. Lily could tell that he was not the wizard he used to be. His thinking was slower, like he was trying to figure out what the appropriate thing to say was, and like he was being in pain from the possibility of saying the wrong thing. “I am sorry, My Princess. What happened?”

“McGonagall wants me to take Occlumency lessons. With  _ Dumbledore.  _ Because she knows I will be disturbed by having  _ you  _ teach me. Occlumency lessons with Dumbledore mean he will be performing Legilimency on me!” Lily hissed. “I need to see my father.”

“Of course, my Princess,” Snape said, bowing to her slightly, and directing her to his fireplace.

“Slytherin Manor!” she called out, instructing the fire to send her to her family’s  _ proper  _ home. The repairs had finished over the summer, and Slytherin Manor was now restored to its proper glory. So, of course, her father had abandoned the home of the Malfoys as his home base.

The magic in the fireplace seemed to know what she wanted, and she emerged in her father’s bedroom - a place she’d barely ever been in before. Slightly embarrassed for intruding, she walked down the hallway and knocked on the door of his office. 

“Come in,” her father called out, and Lily entered the room, sitting down across from him. “What happened?”

“Professor McGonagall wants Dumbledore to give me Occlumency lessons,” Lily blurted out.

Her father’s eyes narrowed, and his response was a hiss in the form of words. “That blood traitor cannot be let inside your mind.”

“I know, Father,” Lily said, feeling like she had messed up. “What should I do?”

“Have you been writing in the diary?” he countered.

Lily blinked, confused at the apparent change in conversation topics. “No? I didn’t think I was supposed to.”

“You need to,” her father instructed her. “That book contains sixteen-year-old me, the first person who opened the Chamber of Secrets since Salazar Slytherin founded Hogwarts. He can teach you…  _ become  _ you temporarily… if you let him in,”

“Become me?” Lily asked, blinking nervously. “You mean… during Occlumency lessons with Dumbledore?”

“Exactly,” her father replied. “He will know how to protect you.”

_ Half of your soul,  _ Lily thought, shivering. She already had a tiny amount of his soul in her, thanks to being a vessel for one of his strongest Horcruxes, and she didn’t know how having half of the soul of Voldemort inside her would feel.

“Believe me, it will feel right,” her father told her, answering her unspoken question. “You are the heiress of Salazar Slytherin - the perfect vessel for that portion of my soul. Speaking to him will strengthen him, and prepare him for eventual reabsorption in the Chamber of Secrets,”

“And then you’ll have that part of your soul back. You’ll be in control of it again,” Lily said.

“Exactly,” her father answered.

***

Lily returned to Hogwarts with the slightly silly task of  _ talking to a diary.  _ She sat down in the Gryffindor common room with a feather and inkwell and tested out scratching  _ Hello, my name is Lily Slytherin  _ into the diary. How would sixteen-year-old Tom Riddle react to her? Would he be suspicious? Her ink sank into the page of the diary, and she supposed she would just have to wait.

_ Lily Slytherin… what an interesting name. My name is Tom Riddle.  _ returned the diary.  _ Why do you have my diary? _

Definitely aggressive, Lily thought.  _ My father gave it to me. An older version of you. Voldemort Slytherin. _

_ How do I know you are not lying, “Lily Slytherin”?  _ Tom Riddle asked.

Lily picked up her wand, pointed it at her palm, and whispered “Diffindo”. A gash appeared on her palm, and she pressed the bloody palm to the page. Once her blood had been absorbed into the page, she cast  _ Episkey  _ and  _ Tergeo  _ to heal the gash and clean up the blood, still marveling at the power of magic to make such changes.

_ An adopted Slytherin, from the Peverell and Potter families. Interesting. Tell me, Lily Slytherin, who were you before the Dark Lord made you someone?  _

_ Lily Potter.  _ Lily wrote.  _ Daughter of James and Lily Potter. Prophesied to kill… my father, until he realized I contained a Horcrux of his and adopted me.  _

The ink sank into the diary, but no response immediately came. Lily supposed Tom was thinking. 

“What are you doing?” Hermione asked, sitting down near Lily.

“I’m writing in my diary,” Lily answered her, a little defensive. She hoped nobody had noticed her cast the  _ Diffindo  _ charm on herself. 

“Oh, okay,” Hermione answered. “I’ll leave you alone,” She then picked up a book that she had checked out from the library.

Lily looked down at the diary, where more words had appeared.  _ So you and I are both Horcruxes of the Dark Lord. We are uniquely similar.  But why are you speaking with me, Heiress of Slytherin? _

Lily felt her heart skip a beat as Tom referred to her as “Heiress of Slytherin”. She  _ was,  _ and it felt good to be recognized as such in the middle of the Gryffindor common room.

_ The Dark Lord wishes for you to possess me,  _ Lily answered.  _ Dumbledore wants to give me Occlumency lessons. And also… I’m going to open the Chamber of Secrets. Rid this school of those who do not belong.  _

_ Well, how interesting, Lily.  _ Tom wrote back.  _ I can’t help but wonder what it will be like to be inside your body.  _

Her father was right - it  _ did  _ feel right. The thought of a young Tom Riddle, the heir to her heiress of Slytherin, inside her and keeping her safe - she liked it. 

_ Hopefully you’ll like it as much as my father says I will, Tom.  _ Lily wrote.

_ Oh, I’m sure I will,  _ was his reply. 


	7. Enemies of the Heir, Beware

Thanks to Tom’s guidance, Lily was quickly able to locate and enter the Chamber of Secrets. She shuddered as she walked down the imposing walkway, flanked by many statues of snakes, holding the diary of Tom Riddle in her hand. She could now communicate with the boy contained in the book without writing, just through Legilimency, but the book had to be close to her in order to do that. 

“You can do it, dear,” Riddle’s voice echoed in her mind as she shivered from the cold in the air. “The basilisk will recognize you as the heiress of Slytherin,”

Lily still found it strange that she was bonding so quickly with the sixteen-year-old boy who had once been her father. There appeared to be a magical connection between them, similar to the magical connection that had made itself obvious between herself and Snape the previous year. She  _ liked  _ it when sixteen-year-old Tom called her “dear”, and she didn’t know what it meant. According to everyone, he’d been very chivalrous and flirtatious when he’d been younger. Maybe she was just seeing the standard flirtation of Tom Riddle that meant nothing, or maybe it was just the same affection her father had for her, but it felt different because he was so close in age to her.

She finally stepped towards the snake head that contained the Basilisk. She felt the power of the creature that had been owned by Salazar Slytherin peering into her soul, examining her for her worthiness.

“You are his second-to-last remaining descendant. How sad,” the Basilisk drawled. “I certainly hope that his line will not die out with you.”

“My father made Horcruxes, and he is still alive. I will do the same,” Lily answered, her voice unwavering. 

_ Perhaps you doing such will mean I have a companion again, after all these years,  _ Tom commented.

“I am to help you purify Hogwarts of the filth, an aim that your father attempted but did not fully succeed in?” the Basilisk asked.

Lily could feel Tom’s anger, hating the fact that the was being condescended to by Slytherin’s former companion. She could also feel his confusion at being referred to as Lily’s father. Lily understood that; she did not particularly feel that this sixteen-year-old was her  _ father.  _

“Yes, you are.  _ Malfoy!”  _ Lily called out. 

There was a sound of leather shoes clicking on smooth rocks, and Draco Malfoy appeared next to Lily, Levitating the body of a Gryffindor. It was John Meyer, the sixth-year son of Pecola Parkinson, a Slytherin Death Eater who had defected from the Dark Order after the First Wizarding War and had a child with a muggle. Malfoy had been instructed to prove himself by knocking out the boy (shouldn’t have been hard) and bringing him to the Chamber behind Lily, in order to redeem himself in the Dark Princess’s eyes. Of course, he wouldn’t know about the Chamber, and wouldn’t know about the plot to purify Hogwarts - he’d proven much too impulsive, and he would be mind wiped after the task of killing Meyer was successful.

“Ambitious. A blood traitor from the Parkinson family,” the Basilisk commented. “Wouldn’t you rather start with a Mudblood?”

“Pecola knew what she was throwing away,” Lily answered with a hiss. “Her filth cannot be allowed to populate Hogwarts.” Trying not to think about the fact that this was her first proper kill, Lily turned around and fired a green jet of light at the boy.  _ “Avada Kedavra!”  _

In a last-ditch attempt at self preservation, the boy’s eyes flew open at the last second before he died. Lily couldn’t help but smile, even if it was fucked up. She then nodded at the Basilisk, who slithered out of the snake head and descended upon the dead body of the boy. It seemed to relish in making a work of art out of the corpse, puncturing various holes just so that its venom would interact with the blood flow. Lily took out a vial and filled it to the brim with his blood, and then put the cork on and sealed it with magic.

*** 

Fifteen minutes later, Draco had been mind-wiped, the Meyer boy’s corpse had been vanished, and Lily stood in an empty first-floor corridor, with a vial of blood in her hand and Tom Riddle’s diary in the other. She opened the vial and pointed at the blood, whispering “ _ Scribere sanguis”,  _ and then pointed at the wall.

The blood moved of its own accord, writing the words on the wall that Lily had asked it to. It was dark in the corridor, past midnight, and Lily thought it likely that no-one would see the message until morning.  _ The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir, beware.  _ Below the message sat John Meyer’s robes. 

In order to ensure whoever found the message that there was a genuine threat, Lily cast several charms on the writing, the Permanent Sticking Charm being the mildest. After she finished her casting, she took a step towards the Gryffindor common room, and felt her body wobble. As soon as that happened, she felt it stand up straight again, as though supported by some invisible force. 

_ I can help you, _ Tom’s voice came straight into her head, more powerful than before. 

“Okay,” Lily answered. 

It didn’t feel as wonderful as her father had said it would, but it did feel natural when Tom Riddle’s consciousness poured into her body, leaving the diary temporarily vacant. Lily figured that was probably because she was so tired that her magic didn’t really know  _ how  _ to react, or to spark with happiness like it usually did when she felt Tom’s presence. Together, they walked back to the Gryffindor common room, and attempted to walk up the stairs, only for it to turn into a slide.

“Fuck,” Tom cursed. Lily giggled in the inside of her head, thinking that Tom saying that word sounded funny. 

“I’ll go to the Slytherin dormitory instead. The wards on the stairs would never think of not letting me in,” he told her.

The Slytherin common room did indeed let Lily and Tom in, and Cassie and Desi Lestrange were again instructed to share a bed in order to let “Lily” have her own. They collapsed on the bed, and it was clear that even though Tom had been pretending to be strong, the body itself was exhausted alongside Lily. Almost as soon as the body was asleep, Lily and Tom found themselves materializing in a shadowy palace inside Lily’s head. 

“Heiress of Slytherin. We’re truly alone at last,” Tom whispered, emerging from the shadows. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to skip a good bit of the next chapter if you don't like this pairing... this is a rather dubious consent situation, after all.


	8. Prince and Princess

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pretty much shameless smut. Not actual required reading if you want to know what's going on in the plot.

Tom Riddle was stunning. There was no other word for it. Lily blinked as her eyes adjusted to the shadowy interior of her mind, focusing on Tom. He did look somewhat like a younger version of her father, but the many divisions of her father’s soul had rendered him an appearance that was cold and untouchable. Tom was practically pulsing with life in comparison. His green eyes pierced through the darkness, set against an unearthly pale complexion that was somehow attractive, that was framed by curly dark hair. As Lily looked at him, gaping slightly, she couldn’t help but notice the way her body and magic were calling out to him, wanting to be intertwined with his. 

“And you’re the Heir of Slytherin,” Lily commented, not knowing how else to respond in the moment.

“I am. A pity I can’t properly see you, dear. Your magical exhaustion makes it so that you don’t appear very properly in this realm, and I couldn’t exactly get a good glimpse of your body in the darkness,” he told her.

“Another day, I suppose,” Lily answered, her mind wandering. Why was he standing so far away from her? Well, maybe it wasn’t very far away, but she couldn’t touch him, and it felt unbearable. She’d only felt a shadow of this intolerable pull before, when upset and near either Hermione or her father. It was new, and she wanted it to go away.

“Perhaps I can feel you,” he commented, and in a flash he was there, eyes blazing a dizzying mixture of red and green as he put one hand on the small of her back and the other on the back of her neck. Lily almost sighed when he touched her, the physical contact like water on the burn that was the pull she’d been experiencing a moment before.

Lily reached up, her hand touching Tom’s skin. It was cool, and it was clear that he had not been exposed to the sun in a long while. Somewhat delirious, he muttered, “Is this what it feels like when you are finally allowed to touch someone who Magic has declared right for you?”

Somewhere in the back of her mind, Lily became aware that Tom Riddle must have had the same block that her father had when it came to not being allowed to touch her - but when she had given some of her blood to the diary, that obstacle had been abolished. His words didn’t seem wrong - they would not have such a connection if Magic herself didn’t approve of it in some form.

“Let’s see if this is better,” Lily said, and on impulse, grabbed Tom’s face forward in a kiss. Unlike her worries about how he would respond, he kissed her back eagerly, grabbing a handful of the long side of her hair and making a guttural noise in the back of his throat. Lily was aware that kissing the boy her father had been at sixteen was on some level inappropriate, but she ignored the thought. Tom Riddle would disappear soon enough, and it wouldn’t matter. And for that matter, Magic must approve if this was happening.

Tom must have registered her thought that he would disappear soon enough, because in an instant a bed appeared and she was pushed down onto it, his hips trapping hers. “Finally,” his voice hissed through her head, and he bent down to kiss her neck.

Although Tom was aggressive in his kissing, he was fairly slow, and it didn’t feel anything like what had happened between her and Snape that night in his office. His lips on her skin felt right, but she was the  _ Dark Princess,  _ damn it, and she wasn’t going to let him take complete control of the situation. She directed a bit of her magic at his clothes, vanishing them nonverbally, and raked her hand down his back in a claiming scratch.

“The Heiress of Slytherin,  _ and  _ my Princess,” Tom removed his lips from her neck, causing Lily to open her eyes, and he sat up. “But we are equally each other’s. Whatever shall we do?”

“I want you inside me,” Lily told him, “ _ Prince of Slytherin.” _

Tom’s eyes blazed the dizzying mixture of red and green again, and Lily’s clothes vanished. “Are you sure you do?”

Lily looked at him with confusion. “What do you mean?”

“A bond like ours…” Tom put a finger down Lily’s chest, tracing her breast and making it hard to concentrate, “will only become stronger if we go any farther than we already have. Especially if you want it,”

Lily didn’t appreciate the insinuation that her consent was compromised somehow. They were equal, and they both knew this. She knew that coming together like this would make their bond stronger, but that could only be good when it came to the fact that she was going to be having Occlumency lessons with  _ Dumbledore. _ “I swear to the Blessed Lady Herself, I do,”

“That’s what I thought,” A wicked smile spread across Tom’s face as he pushed himself inside her. Lily closed her eyes as she pushed towards him in pleasure, her body calling out for more. And he did give her more. She was pleased to learn that Tom Riddle’s reputation as a flirt was not because he was lacking in something else, as he pushed in and out of her, and soon came inside of her.

“Messy boy,” Lily said in a slightly teasing tone. “Clean it up. I haven’t come yet,”

“As you wish, my Princess,” Tom smiled again -  _ god,  _ those eyes, she couldn’t look into them for too long without fearing that she’d lose herself in them - and brought his mouth down between her legs. She could feel the magical bond that Tom had spoken of knitting itself tighter as his tongue entered the most private part of herself, that had only actually been  _ consensually  _ touched by her while thinking about her Hermione. She could feel Tom’s bitterness at the thought that she had someone outside of their mental palace that she was so attracted to, but it didn’t stop him from licking and sucking at her until she came multiple times. 

“Good girl,” Tom whispered, as he crawled up to lay beside her on the bed, pushing his body up against hers. As Lily drifted off into sleep, she could swear she heard him think, “... much better than  _ her.” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, who do you think "her" is?


	9. You'll Be Next, Mudbloods

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes (a lot of the time), Draco Malfoy is stupid.

“My Princess, I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but you need to  _ get up! _ ” One of the twins - Lily couldn’t tell which - was nudging a very tired Princess. Lily awoke with a start, relieved when her consciousness returned to her body in full. She immediately got up and cast a straightening charm on her robes, and then walked down the stairs of the Slytherin dormitory while the twins explained the situation to her.

“Some good-for-nothing blood traitor Gryffindor is dead, and there’s a message written in his blood on the wall of the first floor corridor. The Heads of House are apparently intent on dragging out everyone from their common room and making them look at the words to see if they can find some memory of them casting it. You need to have a reason that you were in the Slytherin common room, fast.”

Lily nodded, and then the twin continued on in a somewhat shaky voice. “And, Lily… if you knew about this, or… did it, you’ll want to make sure that your mind is clear and your wand won’t reveal what charms were cast.”

“Right, of course,” Lily answered, and absentmindedly cast a cleaning charm on her robes, and then her hair. Three spells should be enough to trick anyone who investigated the spells cast by her wand to see if she’d cast anything on the wall. But she really did need a different wand to cast particularly dark magic with - she made a note to talk to her father about that later. 

She immediately made a beeline for Ginny Weasley. “Ginny, I need you to back up my alibi that you came to the Gryffindor common room and said you’d been having nightmares so I accompanied you back to the Slytherin common room, and that’s why I’m here this morning.”

“Why?” Ginny asked, blinking up at Lily.

Damn it. Apparently the rest of the Weasley’s adoration of the Girl Who Lived only went so far to a disowned member of the family. “Because you want to have a real family and place in Slytherin now that you’ve been disowned from your biological one, that’s why,” Lily snapped. “Now, are you in or not?”

Ginny’s eyes widened, and Lily could tell that she was in obvious fear of her. Good. That would bring her the respect she deserved. “O-of course I am, my Princess.”

“Good little snake,” Lily said, and pat Ginny on her head, then sat down next to her. “The Heads of Houses should be here soon. They’ll be investigating Slytherin first, of course.”

***

To the surprise of absolutely no-one in Slytherin, the house of snakes was the first to be investigated. Snape, who Lily learned had been the one to tell the prefects that their house was going to be investigated, stormed into the common room and ordered all of the members of the House to assemble, while McGonagall and Dumbledore stood in the doorway. “First years with us, please.”

A trembling Ginny Weasley stood up, and Snape noticed that Lily was sitting beside her. “Miss Potter. Why on earth are you in the Slytherin common room?” he asked.

“Ginny has been having nightmares. She came to the Gryffindor common room in the middle of the night to tell me, since I’m so close with her brothers,” Lily explained, and Ginny nodded nervously.

“Well, I suppose you’ll come with the Slytherin second years, then,” Snape replied. “Here’s to hoping no one thinks you’re the murderer for not being with your house.”

“Severus, that’s inappropriate,” McGonagall said to Snape, shooting him a glare. She then looked at Lily with a sympathetic expression that made Lily pretty sure she would be vetoing Occlumency lessons with Snape. Not like  _ that  _ was a surprise.

The first-years went off to the corridor, and the atmosphere in the room became less tense without Ginny Weasley there. “My Princess, do you know anything about what happened?” Eva Rosier asked, breaking the silence.

“The Dark Side is ridding Hogwarts of the filth hidden inside it,” Lily simply answered. “No more questions. I’ll tell you anything more if I decide it fitting,” 

That quieted up the rest of the house. The twins seemed particularly interested in what Lily had said, and were looking at each other with intrigued expressions. Many of the other members of Slytherin House were also smiling at the thought that their Lord was keeping them safe from individuals unfit to attend Hogwarts, despite the rest of the wizarding community thinking that he was gone.

The members of Slytherin House sat in a mostly comfortable silence until the first years returned, and the second years were called. Lily and the Slytherin second years filed out of the common room, behind Snape. Apparently, the other Heads of House had gone to fetch their second year students, and were going to be bringing them while Snape brought Slytherin. Lily couldn’t help but wonder if this was some plot of Dumbledore’s to make the other second years suspicious of her. She would probably wonder that until Dumbledore failed to enter her mind properly in her Occlumency lessons. 

Lily had to hold back her smile upon seeing her message in the daylight. It was perfectly written in an ominous script, and the blood still looked wet despite having been painted the previous night, just how she’d intended.

“Enemies of the Heir, beware,” Draco read, and snorted. “You’ll be next, Mudbloods!”

Barely thinking, Lily turned around and slapped Draco straight across the face. There had been a  _ possibility  _ that Slytherin’s reputation would be improved by the members of the other houses seeing that they accepted Ginny Weasley despite her coming from a blood traitor family, and there would already be enough suspicion that someone tied to Slytherin had opened the Chamber. He didn’t need to be making it worse, especially not when he’d already caused problems by not attending the first junior Inner Circle meeting. And him using that word would no doubt upset her Hermione, who had actually  _ kissed  _ him last year despite other people having used that word for  _ her _ !

“No one asked for you to open your bigoted little mouth, Malfoy,” Lily hissed.

“That’s quite eno-” Snape started to say, stepping in to stop the confrontation, but McGonagall stuck her hand out. 

“I will deal with Miss Potter, thank you, Severus,” she told him. “As I’m sure you’ll deal with Mr. Malfoy."


	10. Have a Biscuit, Potter

Anxious, Lily walked down the hallway with McGonagall to her office. Unlike the other day, McGonagall did not particularly seem to be one for conversation today. Lily felt silly remembering the time that she had worried that McGonagall would use some item called “wood” to hit her, but today the witch did seem vaguely intimidating. And what if she had Legilimency used on her? Tom wasn’t with her to protect her mind…

McGonagall pulled out a chair at her desk and instructed Lily to sit. Lily did so, trying to tame her racing thoughts. McGonagall then pointed at a glass jar on her desk. “Have a biscuit, Potter.”

Lily blinked at McGonagall, trying to figure out if she was being pranked. The head of Gryffindor wasn’t mad at her for slapping Draco in front of everyone?

“Have a biscuit, Potter, or will I have to shove it down your throat?” McGonagall laughed, and Lily could see why she’d been Slytherin once upon a time. “It won’t hurt you. I simply wish to speak about the incident that happened at Hogwarts.”

Gingerly, Lily reached out to take a biscuit. It didn’t  _ seem  _ like it was enchanted, and it did look like it would taste good.

“I am glad that you stood up to Malfoy in front of the other Slytherins, and students in your year,” McGonagall told Lily as she ate her biscuit. “It is important that you, the Girl Who Lived, oppose such violent words.”

“My mother had that word used against her. Many times,” Lily answered, bristling a little. “And Hermione has already had it used against her. It’s wrong.”

“Indeed. And people such as Draco Malfoy and his family… people who are supporters of Voldemort… use that word to mean anyone who is of muggleborn status,” McGonagall responded. “In his statement, Malfoy is eagerly anticipating the death of all Muggleborns at Hogwarts.”

“You said… the name,” Lily said in a hushed voice, trying to seem like the startled Girl Who Lived.

“Miss Potter, I am the deputy headmistress of Hogwarts, speaking about a situation that most likely occurred at his direction, to the Girl Who Lived. If I cannot speak his name in this situation, I cannot think of anyone who reasonably can, other than yourself and Dumbledore. He is not a shadow in the darkness or a dead corpse in Albania. He is back, and today’s incident makes this obvious,” McGonagall bristled. “Naming him will demystify him.”

Lily nodded along nervously. 

“You were in the Slytherin common room this morning. Did you by any chance see if there was anyone who might have the ability to open the Chamber? That would belong to the Heir of Slytherin, the direct descendant of Salazar Slytherin himself,” McGonagall explained.

“How would I identify the Heir of Slytherin?” Lily asked.

“They would likely possess a haughty attitude, and be the descendant of an otherwise prominent bloodline. And most notably, they would be deferred to by other Slytherins, even if they were younger than the rest or had not attained Prefect or Head Girl status. Perhaps even being referred to by the title of… Prince?” McGonagall proposed.

Lily’s heart was racing. Was McGonagall insinuating something about the Slytherins calling her Princess?

“There was a boy once, who all in Slytherin called Prince,” McGonagall said, removing a necklace from her neck. “He was a year above me, and his name was Tom Riddle. He was… the heir of Slytherin, and many suspect that he opened the Chamber in his time at Hogwarts.”

McGonagall stuck a fingernail in the gap in her necklace, which was circular and emblazoned with a triangular symbol. It flipped open. Inside was a picture of a boy on one side, and a picture of a woman on the other. The boy was Tom Riddle. Lily tried to not look like she recognized him.

“I wear this necklace always to remind myself of the delicate balance that we as wixen must maintain with the Muggle world, and to remember who was the good example of upholding that balance and who was  _ not. _ ” McGonagall said in a slightly bitter voice. “The woman on the right is my mother, who fell in love with and married a Muggle man, and had me. The boy on the left is Tom Riddle. Nowadays, known as Voldemort.”

Lily started. “You  _ knew  _ him?”

“No one knew him,” McGonagall answered. “Sure, he had a club of his favorites, aided by the head of Slytherin then, Horace Slughorn, and I was among them, but I did not know him. No one did. And no one will,” McGonagall closed the locket and put it back around her neck. “If there indeed is a proper descendant of Salazar Slytherin living at this school, I pity them. No matter what Voldemort says, they are not protected, and they are not important to him. They are only a tool.”

“Perhaps they will find a way out before it’s too late,” Lily answered, trying to sound like an optimistic Girl Who Lived.

“Perhaps they will find a way out,” McGonagall responded, and for a moment, her eyes seemed to glaze over, as if she was remembering something from long ago. “But they have already killed for him. It is too late.”

***

When Lily managed to slip into the Dungeons and return to the Slytherin Common room that evening, her heart was racing. It felt wrong to have left the diary alone in the common room for so long, even if it was only Slytherins and they were theoretically trustworthy. Thankfully, Eva had been keeping the book safe with her all day. She took it from her with a grateful smile, and rushed back to the Gryffindor dormitory. 

“The deputy headmistress of Hogwarts knows who you become, Tom,” she thought, anxiously, as she sat in her bed in the girl’s dorm.

“Oh, does she really?” Tom answered, and Lily could almost feel him laugh. “Who is she?”

“Minerva McGonagall,” Lily answered.

As soon as she spoke the words to him in her mind, a chill swept through her, and she felt the sensation that Tom was back in his diary. “Follow me,” he told her. 


	11. Home at Hogwarts

Somehow, Lily instinctively knew what to do. She laid down on her bed and closed her eyes, with the book resting on top of her chest, and focused on letting go of her body the same way she had when Tom had taken over. Soon, she appeared in the corridor of a much more brightly lit chamber, with Tom standing near her.

“It’s the Chamber of Secrets,” she observed. Of course, it wasn’t literally - she could tell that. But it was a very realistic simulation. 

“Hogwarts was not my home. The Chamber was,” Tom told Lily, and turned around. His eyes widened as he took her in. “How young  _ are  _ you?”

“I’m a second year,” Lily answered. 

Tom’s eyebrows shot up for a moment before he regained a somewhat more composed face. “What does my current self think of our more intimate relations?”

Lily shrugged. “It deepens the connection,” She, personally, hoped her father wouldn’t pay much attention to what she and Tom had done together.

Tom’s face twisted into a snarl, and his eyes flashed red. “ _ It deepens the connection _ . Of course. Because that’s all he would care about. The magical way things work. Nothing about how we feel. He locked me away because we were not allowed to feel. Or rather, I can feel, and he can ignore it and continue on with his ambitions.”

Lily felt a pull of sympathy towards Tom, but she also felt a flash of anger, and she slapped him. “I didn’t say that’s what he cares about. I said that’s what I care about. We’re in this to purify Hogwarts, not to fall in love.”

He looked at her with a dispassionate expression, all of the charm gone. “You really are his daughter.”

“Apparently,” Lily answered, spitting slightly at Tom. “Anyway, what did you want to show me?” She didn’t appreciate the attitude that he was taking towards her, or the attitude he was taking towards her father. He was really a sixteen-year-old boy, she realized. A sixteen-year-old boy who would later become the Dark Lord, but a sixteen-year-old boy nonetheless. And he was acting it. 

“This,” Tom grabbed her hand, somewhat roughly, and they were speeding out of the Chamber and into the Great Hall of a Hogwarts long ago. 

Lily barely bothered to focus on the scenes that Tom showed her. They seemed akin to the ones that Snape had shown her in her first year, of a failed love story with her biological mother. And she  _ really  _ didn’t care. It was rather pointless for him to show her the memory of him and McGonagall having sex, anyway. She only started paying attention when he presented his plan of world domination to the fifth-year Slytherin McGonagall.

“I will be immortal. Extend the boundaries of immortality further than anyone ever has. I will have seven Horcruxes, and you, Minerva, will be one of them,” He raised McGonagall’s hand to his face and kissed it. “And you will have your own, as well. Nothing will ever be able to tear us apart. We will be the royalty of the wizarding world.”

If Tom had been paying attention to anything other than his visions of conquest, he would have noticed that McGonagall’s expression had turned slowly more horrified as he explained his plan to her. “I don’t want any part in your insane plot, Riddle,”

Tom’s face twisted, clearly enraged at her usage of his father’s Muggle name. “Crucio!” he yelled, his eyes flashing red. And during the next Sorting Ceremony, McGonagall was sitting at the Gryffindor table. 

“These memories… are who I was,” Tom informed her, once they had returned to the Chamber.

Lily stared at Tom, looking through him. She’d expected him to engage her in conversation about the murder and how people had reacted,  _ not  _ tell her about his obsession with McGonagall. “No, Tom. It’s who you  _ are _ ,” she hissed at him. “Are you really so pathetic that you’re going to focus on her, care about her, be in  _ love  _ with her more than fifty years after she rejected you and the status that being with you would have given her? Shouldn’t you  _ hate  _ her?” Lily knew she would hate someone who had betrayed her like that. She desperately hoped that Hermione would never treat her like McGonagall had treated Tom.

“What about Hermione?” Tom sneered.

Worried that Tom had read her mind, Lily winced. “What about her?”

“She’s a Muggle-born Gryffindor. And despite being a descendant of the Noble and Ancient House of Black, she is still on the side of  _ Dumbledore,”  _ he spat.

“Right. Who you also totally don’t have tumultuous feelings about the existence of,” Lily rolled her eyes.  Then something occurred to her. “Wait. How do you know about Hermione? Have you been reading my mind?”

“I have not read any more than you have let me,” Tom answered. “While you were gone from me for a whole day, I grew worried, and curious. I reached out to the sixth-year prefect you left my diary in the hands of - a fascinating girl, she is - and I asked her to tell me about what had happened, and about you, and the girl you were so obsessed with. She told me everything. It’s really quite easy to get information out of beautiful girls when you’re someone like me.” 

“I hate to break it to you,  _ Riddle,  _ but Eva didn’t spill to you because you were you,” Lily said, rolling her eyes. “She told you because her father is a Death Eater, a servant of the person who you are a younger version of. Although really, I’m not sure you deserve that label.”

“You little…” Tom attempted to draw his wand in the mental chamber, but Lily turned away, and pushed herself out of the diary. 

She awoke in the common room with a start, and Hermione standing by her bed. “Lily, are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” Lily told her, and attempted to sit up. Her vision swam before her eyes, and Hermione braced her.

“You’re clearly not, your energy’s all wrong,” Hermione told her. “Narcissa’s a Healer, and I can enter her house… I’m taking you to her.”


	12. Under Control

Lily was hardly aware of her feet moving as Hermione supported her along in their walk to Snape’s office, under the Invisibility Cloak. She knew she must have been moving, and it didn’t feel like it had when Tom had been controlling her body. It felt like her brain was floating about a few feet away from her body.

Soon, Lily became aware of lying in a bed in Malfoy Manor, with Narcissa Malfoy fussing over her. She vaguely heard her instruct a House Elf to contact someone - although she wasn’t sure who. Time passed in a blur, and she wasn’t aware of how much time had passed at all or even very much of its passing until Narcissa poured a silvery liquid down her throat and she came back to consciousness.

“Lily, how much do you remember?” Hermione was leaning beside her, an hand on hers, with a concerned expression on her face.

“Lying here and not knowing what was going on, mostly,” Lily said, joking a little. 

“What did you do?” Narcissa asked.

“I think we should be asking  _ what did somebody do to her, _ ” Hermione said with a dark expression. 

“That’s quite alright, Miss Granger, we have the situation under control,” The other Healer, who Lily now recognized as Ophelia Greengrass, chastised Hermione. “Would you kindly step out so that I can speak with Miss Potter privately?”

Hermione blushed a little as she obeyed Ophelia’s command, and Lily thought that while sometimes Hermione’s Gryffindor tendencies could be cute, they could also be problematic. 

“Would you like to tell me about what happened, my Princess, or would you prefer to wait to tell the Dark Lord?” Narcissa asked once Hermione was gone, in a measured voice. Her perfect Malfoy facade didn’t crack, but Lily knew what she meant by the question. Whatever had happened tonight was concerning, and she wasn’t going to let Lily get away with getting healing and then maybe going back to what had caused the problem.

“I’ll tell my father,” Lily answered, in a crisp voice. She had no interest in telling a  _ Death Eater _ about her interactions with Tom Riddle, a young version or not. 

***

Somehow, Ophelia and Narcissa managed to convince Hermione that Lily needed to stay the night at Malfoy Manor, but that Hermione did not need to stay fussing over her. So soon, the two Healers left the room to briefly speak with her father before he entered her room. Due to a charm that had been cast on the door, she could only hear mumbling between the three others, until her father opened the door and instructed Narcissa and Ophelia to leave.

Lily blinked up at her father as she noticed her magic calling out to him the same way it had called out to the younger version of him in her mind. It didn’t feel quite as strong, which was a little strange. Was it because the diary had the largest portion of her father’s soul?

“It is because, thanks to Narcissa, you are not absolutely exhausted, unlike you were that night,” he answered, pulling up a chair at her bedside. “Any connection you naturally had with the portion of my soul in the diary would have been amplified by you running low on your magical stores. He knew that.”

Lily felt her heart beat faster, and couldn’t help but remember her moments with Tom inside her own mind. This was where everything went to hell, she was sure. Calling a young version of her father _Tom_ \- even if he had been being a bloody idiot - felt like it should be a death sentence.   
“He is being brought to us now. He will learn,” her father said, with a smirk.

Lily looked up at him, wide-eyed. “ _ He  _ will learn?”

“He should have treated you more respectfully. You are the Princess of Slytherin, the heiress to two of the greatest Dark wizards of all time. He is merely a boy trapped in a book who fell in love with the wrong witch,” her father hissed.

“But he’s… you,” Lily said, and felt her stomach twist. Should she have not called Tom “Prince”? It had felt right at the time. 

“No. I was him,” her father answered. There was a knock on the door, and he called out, “Come in, Draco,”

A terrified-looking Draco Malfoy walked into the room, holding a small book that Lily knew all too well as Tom’s diary. 

“Thank you. Leave us now,” He was dismissed as fast as he’d been summoned with a small wave of her father’s hand. 

“Since it’s rather not worth the effort to give Tom a temporary physical form in this world, I am going a different route for our interaction,” her father said, his lips curling into a mocking smile. “Take my hand, Lily, dear,”

Nervously, Lily reached out her hand, which her father held. She had a similar sensation to the one she’d had when Tom had been pulling her inside the book, but it felt smoother, and not so exhausting. Soon, she was sitting on a throne, in a purple velvet dress, with her father sitting on a taller throne on her left side. 

“Is Tom coming too?” Lily asked in a tremor of a voice.

“Yes, but calm yourself first. Right now, you are the Princess of Magic. He is nothing but a commoner.” 

“Yes, Father,” Lily said, a smile growing on her lips. She could get used to this. 


	13. Tom's Punishment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, it gets explicit. And self-cest-y in a non-con way.

Lily couldn’t help but smirk as young Tom Riddle was dragged into the throne room by a pair of featureless guards with pale bodies -  _ Inferi,  _ her father said, supplying the name. Watching him, Lily could see how he was labeled a commoner - and since this was all, in a sense, taking place inside her father’s head, it showed that he really did think of the young Tom Riddle as such.

“M… my Lord,” Tom raised his head slightly, trembling and not wanting to look directly at the older version of himself.

“Look at me when you speak to me, half-blood scum. And don’t neglect to honor your Princess along with me,” Voldemort’s words seemed to cut Tom both mentally and physically, as he was propelled back slightly by their impact.

“I am sorry, my Lord, my Princess,” Tom replied, looking up at Voldemort and Lily but still not fully meeting their eyes.

“You knew what you were doing,” Voldemort hissed. “You knew you were taking advantage of her weakened state, and later you knew that you would hurt her magically by cursing her while her spirit was still inside your diary. What do you have to say for yourself?”

“I believed we were equal, my Lord,” he answered, his voice wavering. “Furthermore… I believed she was not as important as me, as she was only the heiress to the heir of Slytherin, and that I went on to become… you,”

“And that is your mistake,” Voldemort’s eyes flashed in the same way Tom’s had, propelling Tom’s body and making it crash against the wall of the throne room. “She has earned the title of Heir of Slytherin more than you have. My achievements are not to your credit - in fact, they are quite the opposite, as they were achieved  _ without  _ the interference of your love for the half-blood.”

Tom gulped, embarrassed that Voldemort had dragged his secret out into the open. 

“A half-blood who could have been a credit to Slytherin House and to the Dark Side, had you not been so careless in your convincing of her and managed to turn her  _ against  _ us,” Voldemort hissed. “I’m sure your Princess can speak to the inconvenience of  _ that _ .”

“Yes. She’s making me attend meetings to make sure I’m on the right track, and making me take Occlumency lessons with  _ Dumbledore,” _ Lily hissed. “Your childish impudence has given the Dark Side a weakness.”

“With all due respect, my Princess, if I was so easily able to manipulate you, I think the Dark Side already had a weakness,”

_ “Cruor calefeci!”  _ Lily instantly reacted with the blood-heating curse, hurling it in Tom’s direction. “A blood traitor such as you have proven yourself to be shall not criticize your betters in such a way,”

Anxiously, she looked over to her father, silently looking for approval. She’d called his past self a blood traitor - was that going to be an issue?

Her father’s reaction, however, was only a slight shake of his head, and a glare at Tom. “Do not blame my heiress for your  _ own  _ missteps.”

Lily felt like maybe her blood was as hot as Tom’s was, fueling her anger, but she took a few deep breaths and calmed herself down. “You know, I would’ve wanted you, Riddle,” she said, beginning a different route of torture.

“Really?” Tom looked up at her with a pleading expression on his face, begging her to stop the torment of the blood-heating curse.

“Pretty boys with broken brains… really, everyone I can finish breaking and then mold in the image I desire… are  _ ever  _ so attractive,” The magic of Voldemort’s internal mind palace had Tom then exactly where she wanted him, half-naked with her icy-cold finger trailing down his chest. He shuddered at the touch, still almost as overwhelmed as he had been the first time they’d made such contact. 

“But you had to be the  _ powerful  _ one,” Lily dropped her finger and looked at Tom with an exaggeratedly sad expression. “You had to prove just how important you were, after being rejected by the woman you loved and stuck in a diary for over half a century. You couldn’t appreciate hierarchy as it is properly,” She then turned to her father. “What do you think we should do about that, my Lord?” Her teasing smile made the touch of formality not quite as formal on her end.

Her father’s lips curled into a similarly teasing smile, understanding what Lily was getting at. Perhaps this wasn’t the most  _ traditional  _ interaction to be going on - but then again, nothing about Lily, and nothing about her father, was traditional in the Light Side’s sense of the word. 

“I would say that you need to learn your place, so-called Prince of Slytherin,” Voldemort’s eyes grew dark, and an invisible magical force pulled Tom towards him instead of Lily. In a flash, her father’s clothes were gone and Tom’s face was shoved between his legs. Lily squirmed a little as she observed Tom choking on the length of her father’s cock.  _ Good.  _ Briefly, she wished she could tell this story to Hermione - but she realized Hermione probably wouldn’t understand  _ or  _ approve of it.

After what seemed like an entirely too short period of time, her father shoved Tom away from him, leaving Tom to throw up on the floor of the mind palace. “You may only ever have my heiress again if you please her with the subservience with which you have just pleased me,” Voldemort said, towering above him. “Otherwise, don’t even bother  _ thinking  _ about wanting her, or anyone else, in that way,”

After her father’s lecture, Lily removed the blood-heating curse from Tom, who collapsed to the floor in exhaustion, tired of powering his own body with energy. Lily and Voldemort shared a smile, and soon they were back in Slytherin Manor, with Tom safely contained in his diary.

“Thank you, Father,” Lily said with a smile, after the memories of the event had properly settled in her mind.

“Anytime, my dear,” he answered, with a dazzling smile in return.


	14. How to Be Good

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Dark Princess is unpredictable - but that's how her toys like her. (Very shameless power fantasy/smut chapter.)

That Friday evening Lily was at a Slytherin house party, but she was still high on the power that had come with punishing Tom alongside her father. Tom didn’t have  _ so  _ much of a connection with her anymore, which was mainly due to the fact that Lily wasn’t constantly carrying around the diary. As far as she was concerned, access to her that her father hadn’t instructed to happen was a privilege for Tom - and he hadn’t done much to earn it.

“Hey Lily! Have you tried the new blackberry wine?” Eva asked, waltzing over to Lily with two glasses of wine. Admittedly, they’d previously been red solo cups, but Eva was pretty excellent at Transfiguration. Tonight, however, Lily didn’t feel like admiring her Inner Circle member’s magical skill. Eva had been formal to Lily all week ever since she had first noted that she had been in conversation with Tom, and today was the first time she had slipped. Cross-legged, she looked up at Eva. “Really?”

Eva looked at Lily in confusion, and despite being drunk managed to regain some formality. “My Princess?”

“You will address me by my title, and my title only, until you have satisfactorily proven that I can trust you, and that you take your cues from me,” Lily said in a chilly voice, and then aimed her wand at the glass of wine Eva was holding. “ _ Bombarda.” _

The cups burst apart from inside with a thrilling explosion, soaking Eva’s dress and lodging little bits of glass in it. Lily had cast the Shielding Charm on herself so that her curse didn’t backfire on  _ her.  _

“Clean it up, Rosier. Without magic,” she instructed Eva, and then got up from the sofa. 

***

Fed up with the party and with people being drunk and idiots, Lily marched up to her specific bedroom in the Slytherin common room. Once it had become clear that she was doing something for the Dark Lord and that something necessitated her having a private place to plot, the Head Boy had been quick to convert his private quarters into a room fit for the Princess. She sank into the luxurious bed and picked up the diary, which she’d been neglecting. She’d gone off on Eva again for talking to Tom, so it seemed only fitting that Tom also endure some more punishment. Although really, being forced to submit to the Dark Princess shouldn’t be considered punishment in anyone’s sense of the word. 

Now an expert at having mental sessions with the disgraced Dark Prince without overexerting herself, Lily summoned Tom into her mind. Upon entering her mental palace, Tom found himself immediately tied to all four posters of her bed with Slytherin ties and naked.

“I just had to chastise Eva Rosier for not speaking respectfully towards me,” Lily said, with one crack of a whip aimed directly between Tom’s legs. “Something  _ you  _ started,” Another crack. “You just  _ had  _ to learn more about the girl I cared about more than you…”  _ crack,  _ “because you were too pathetic to realize,”  _ crack,  _ “that people outside will always trump some memories frozen in a diary,” With a final crack of her whip, Lily let it down and crawled onto the bed, right in front of Tom. Despite the tremendous pain she’d inflicted on him, she could tell he was turned on - a drop of pre-cum was beading on the tip of his dick. Lily swiped a finger across it, picking it up, and saw him shiver as she licked her finger. “Delicious. You’re so desperate from me that you want me more when all I’m doing is whipping you,” 

“I suppose you’re in luck that you’re getting attention from me, then,” she said, taking his balls in her hands and rolling them around experimentally first before sharply squeezing them. Tom’s body stiffened, his wrists pulling at the restraints, but he was growing hard underneath her hands. She moved her attention to the tip of his penis, pinching it and playing with it. Tom was moaning at that point, but the moaning stopped and turned to a shocked expression when something  _ other  _ than cum began coming out of his penis. Lily laughed, turning his penis further towards him, and watched as he pissed himself.

“Oh no, did I get you too excited, little prince?” she asked with a smirk, knowing all too well what she had done. Tom was still looking at his body with shock and disgust, and his penis had softened. 

“Just remember… if you want proper play next time, be a good boy,” Lily said, and expertly threw Tom from her mind and back into the book. She wasn’t sure exactly what being a good boy for her meant, but she was certain that no longer being aroused at something she had decided needed to happen was  _ not  _ on the list of how to do it.

***

Smirking, Lily walked back down to the Slytherin party, where Eva Rosier, mostly clean from the evening’s earlier events, looked at her cautiously. Bored with antagonizing people, and wanting someone who would be  _ good  _ for her, Lily plopped down on the seat next to Eva.

“Eva. Let’s forget earlier, alright?” She pointed her wand at the girl’s shirt and non-verbally cast  _ Scourgify.  _ Eva’s eyes widened as she realized that the Princess’s wrath had finally come to an end… at least for now. Taking the collar of Eva’s newly clean shirt in her hand, Lily pulled the girl towards her, kissing her deeply. Eva made a pleased noise in the back of her throat, which resulted in Lily working her other hand under the bottom of her shirt to fondle Eva’s breasts. Eva leaned closer to Lily, thrilling in the contact.

“See, you.  _ You  _ know how to be good, don’t you?” Lily murmured as she took off Eva’s shirt in the middle of the common room so she had a full view of the girl’s breasts. “Unlike  _ some  _ people.”

 


	15. Authority

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ginny retaliates at Molly Weasley for disowning her.

As the days went on, and the Weasley family was separated by house for longer and longer, Lily could pick up on the agitation on the part of Percy Weasley. He didn’t say anything out loud, but she hadn’t learned Legilimency for nothing, and she could tell that he was worrying about how his little sister was being treated in Slytherin.  _ Lily  _ knew that everything was going to be fine - she trusted her Inner Circle, but Percy had no way of knowing that anyone in Slytherin except for Eva Rosier was trustworthy.

And if he knew what she and Eva had done the other night at the Slytherin house party, he certainly  _ wouldn’t  _ think Eva was trustworthy or appropriate, she thought with a smirk. 

Like usual, she walked down to the Great Hall with Hermione and the other Gryffindors for breakfast. Unlike usual, Percy Weasley was walking near them, with an anxious expression on his face. Well, Percy being anxious wasn’t unusual - but him being anxious near Lily certainly was.

“What’s wrong, Weasley?” she asked with a raised eyebrow. 

“... Ginny’s got a boyfriend in Slytherin, and Fred and George are none too pleased,” Percy said with a sigh. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they try to hex him or beat him up today.”

“And then you’ll have to take points away from Gryffindor on account of their actions, again,” Lily said, nodding. 

“Well, I just hope it doesn’t get that far,” Percy sighed.

“Wait. Who is the boyfriend?” Hermione asked.

“Draco Malfoy,” Percy said, with a dark expression on his face.

“But he…” Lily cut herself off just in time, before she revealed to Percy that she had been at the Slytherin House welcome back party and had seen Draco Malfoy harassing Ginny. 

“Is a Malfoy, otherwise known as one of our family’s worst enemies.  _ I know,”  _ Percy said, standing up straighter. “That’s exactly why Ginny is dating him, probably. Seeing as she got disowned by Mum and all.”

“That wasn’t cool,” Hermione said in a small voice. “Isn’t your family basically her only connection to the magical world?”

“Her only connection that isn’t in  _ Slytherin, _ ” Percy sighed. “Malfoy is our third cousin once removed.”

“I thought I was the one who remembered everything I read,” Hermione said with a smirk.

“I… You… Any respectable wizard knows who they’re related to,” Percy said, puffing out his chest. 

Hermione raised an eyebrow, but mostly seemed unfazed by Percy’s encyclopedic knowledge of his family tree. Lily’s mind, however, was wandering. She was pretty sure light wizards didn’t typically know much at all about who they were related to. Was it possible that Percy was going to be the next member of the Weasley family to be considered “evil” by its matriarch?

Indeed, when they arrived in the Great Hall, most of the Slytherins were already there, and Draco was sitting next to Ginny, whispering in her ear and kissing her neck. A flicker of confusion and betrayal ran across Hermione’s face, and Lily couldn’t be a little upset too. How had Draco, a child of her father’s Inner Circle, not given her warning about what he was going to do? She didn’t disapprove of the choice, exactly, but the way he’d gone about it, and the fact that he hadn’t asked her permission irked her. She had given Hermione him to play with at a few get-togethers, after all.

Fred and George’s faces both turned dark, and they looked at each other with determined expressions and then walked over to the Slytherin table. “Wait…” Percy called out, but the twins ignored him. Irritated, Lily followed.

“Just what do you think you’re doing?” she asked as Fred pulled out his wand.

“What do  _ I  _ think I’m doing? What does  _ he  _ think he’s doing, putting his slimy hands all over my sister!” Fred hissed. “ _ Levicorpus!”  _

Draco was immediately hoisted up into the air by his ankle, and he glared at the twins. “Put me down, you filthy blood traitors!”

“Not until you stay away from our sister!” George threatened.

“She’s not… your sister… anymore!” Draco forced the words out as Ginny shouted “Leave him alone, you pricks!”

“As entertaining as this little show is, I’m pretty sure it’s breaking school rules,” Lily said, taking her wand out and pointing it at Draco. “ _ Liberacorpus.”  _ Draco fell onto the floor, but thankfully another Slytherin had rushed to cast the Cushioning Charm on the floor underneath him. Rubbing his head in annoyance, Draco glared up at the twins. Ginny looked up at Snape, strolling quickly towards Fred and George, and smirked.

“Return to your table at once, Weasleys, and five points from Gryffindor a piece,” he hissed, and then turned to Lily after the twins had slinked off. “And ten points to Gryffindor for your… interference, Miss Potter,”

The Slytherins looked on in awe, Ginny mostly. Lily smiled at them, and returned to the Gryffindor table, where Fred and George were ranting at anyone who would listen about Snape.

“ _ Really?”  _ she hissed at them when she returned to the table. “How stupid can you be?”

“I’m sorry, my Princess,” George answered, and then nudged Fred, who jolted to awareness and echoed his sentiments.

“If you’re going to  _ call  _ me your Princess, you damn well better act like I actually hold authority over you. I just earned us back the points that you lost because certain professors actually  _ appreciate me, _ ” Lily hissed. “You don’t respect your own prefect, and you will only listen to Snape if he’s threatening you, but I expect better from someone who regards me as royalty of the Wizarding world. Do you understand?”

The twins were visibly shaking, and Hermione’s eyes were wide. Percy also looked on with a shocked but somewhat impressed expression. “Yes, my Princess,” the twins muttered. 


	16. A Respectable Princess

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for implied past sexual abuse in this chapter

Unfortunately, Lily was not able to immediately sneak off to the Slytherin common room after classes to talk to Draco about  _ what the hell  _ he had done. Lavender Brown told her at the end of their Herbology lesson that Percy wanted to talk to her. 

Despite the fact that Percy was a Gryffindor and a member of the Weasley family, Lily couldn’t help but be a little intrigued as she climbed through the portrait of the Fat Lady to enter the Gryffindor common room. She  _ hoped  _ her conversation with Percy wouldn’t be a repeat of last year’s disastrous private conversation.

Percy ushered her to a private area of Gryffindor Common Room near the window, and cast a shimmering ward on the air between them and the rest of the room that would prevent them from being overheard. “This  _ must  _ be serious, then,” Lily said, trying to keep a lighthearted tone.

“Snape’s favoring you again, Lily. I want to know…” He gulped, unable to spit out what he wanted. 

_ And Gryffindors are supposed to be brave,  _ Lily thought, annoyed. “You want to know if he’s favoring me in other ways again? Because he’s not. He’s just being nicer and more reasonable this year because he  _ isn’t possessed by You-Know-Who  _ anymore. Being enough of an abusive asshole to be possessed by the Dark Lord kind of makes you realize how horrible you’re being and turn it around so you’re not hurt anymore.”

“Was he… only possessed partway through the year?” Percy asked, half-reaching out a hand in what appeared to be an effort to comfort Lily. “It’s okay, I won’t tell anyone. I… know what it’s like,”

Well then. The local Gryffindor prefect was not nearly as boring as Lily thought he was. Either he’d been hurt by his parents and had realized that what they were doing was inappropriate, or he’d managed to escape the Weasley bubble and fall enough under the influence of someone else to be hurt. Given that, and his promise, Lily figured it would be safe to reveal a part of her secret… cautiously.

“I think so,” she whispered, trying to look like she was close to crying. “I didn’t know, so I just told Dumbledore it was always You-Know-Who. I didn’t want to get his career ruined on a false allegation. His interest in me… it did seem specifically because of reasons  _ he  _ would’ve had, not reasons that my random mortal enemy who hates the fact that I’m prophesied to kill him would have had.”

Percy nodded. “But he’s not doing it anymore?”

“No, because like I said, he saw how much being an abusive asshole backfired on  _ him,”  _ Lily said bitterly, rolling her eyes. “That’s his only reason for changing his mind, I’m pretty sure. Self-preservation.”

“That’s disgusting.” Percy said. 

Lily looked at him, one eyebrow raised, and decided to go out on a limb with a guess. “Was it Lucretia?” Lucretia Prewett was Ginny’s great-aunt, the woman who had tutored her in the Dark Arts in ways that seemed to have messed her up at least somewhat, and was also the Weasleys’ closest link to anyone who was truly on the Dark Side. Hell, Percy himself had gotten his middle name in honor of her deceased husband, Molly Weasley’s uncle. The deceased husband of a member of the  _ House of Black.  _

Percy’s eyes went wide, and as they did, Lily could tell that he realized denying would be futile. “How did you know?”

“Any respectable Princess knows who her people are related to,” Lily said with a knowing smile.

Percy looked for a moment like he was going to protest that he wasn’t one of  _ her people,  _ or maybe protest at Lily throwing his words back in her face, but he shut his mouth, and when he reopened it to respond, his answer was actually appropriate. “I suppose that the Light Side is lucky you’re their Princess, then,”

“Their, not our?” Lily asked, with a tilt of a head and another knowing smile.

“Hardly our. You’re talking to the foster Dedicant of Lucretia Prewett… and one of two of her Foster Presentees.” Percy answered.

Lily couldn’t help it - her mouth opened slightly in shock as Percy used the terms “Foster Dedicant” and “Foster Presentee”, terms that indicated that a traditionalist wixen had taken upon themselves the responsibility of performing different rituals honoring and dedicating a consenting magical child to Lady Magic. Sure, she’d taken Percy for a stuffy teen who didn’t really belong in the Weasley family, and she’d known he’d been close with his sister, but she hadn’t made the leap to him being someone with Dark political ideals. Surely her father didn’t know either, or he would have pointed out to her that she had an ally in the youngest prefect of Gryffindor when she first entered Hogwarts. 

Looking to throw Percy off balance in return, she smirked. “And also a victim of Lucretia Prewett?”

“I… She…” Percy stuttered. “She hurt me, but it was for a greater cause. Training.”

“Yeah, yeah. Snape liked to train me, too,” Lily rolled her eyes and stood up, grabbing Percy’s wrist. “Come on. I’m taking you where you belong.”

***

The Slytherins were mostly shocked when Lily dragged Percy into their common room, except for Ginny, who looked at Percy with a confused expression that turned into a weak smile when he smiled at her first. With a whisper to Silas Jugson, she instructed him to find the rest of her Inner Circle and meet them in her room. Then she pulled Percy with her to her room and sat him down on one of the chairs.

“You have your own room here?” Percy asked, looking at her in shock.

Figuring that she would have to come clean soon enough, and that her Legilimency of Percy would’ve dug up anything unsavory about his beliefs about her father, Lily shrugged. “Yeah, well, you know how you’re the Foster Dedicant of Lucretia Prewett? I’m the Foster Dedicant of  _ Voldemort.”  _

“The… Dark… Lord?” Percy’s mouth hung open as the children of the Inner Circle Death Eaters filed into the room, including Draco, who looked thankfully like he wasn’t going to start trouble with Percy just because of his last name and what had happened with the twins. 

“Well, at least you know how to properly speak of him,” Eva said, sitting down next to Percy. “I’m glad to hear you’re on our side, Weasley. Or should I say Black?”

“Not Weasley anymore,  _ please,”  _ Percy visibly shuddered, and as he took in the room and the fact that the other Slytherins didn’t look like they wanted to jump down his throat or kill him, the tension in his face and shoulders started to melt away. “I wish my grandmother had never married Septimus.”

“Well, sometimes the child of a blood traitor surprises us all by being worthy of the gifts that the Blessed Lady has bestowed on them,” Desi Lestrange said with a warm smile. “Welcome back, cousin.”

“Now, the question is… what are we going to do about your sister?” Lily asked. She also knew that a future question for her Inner Circle,  _ minus  _ Percy, would be “what are we going to do about Lucretia Prewett”. But, small steps for now. 


	17. How Do You Solve a Problem Like The Weasley

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Inner Circle discusses how to handle the Ginny Weasley situation.

Percy bristled when Ginny was brought up. “What do you mean, what do we do about her? She’s a  _ Slytherin _ , and also a foster Presentee of Prewett _.  _ Surely she’s already more involved with the Dark Side than I am.”

Lily raised an eyebrow. “We… we haven’t really been able to get an accurate read on her. She doesn’t know about who I am yet.”

Percy’s eyes widened. “You mean… is she the only one in Slytherin who doesn’t know who you are? Or does all of Slytherin  _ not  _ know that you’re Voldemort’s daughter? With the way they all call you Princess, I would have assumed…”

“You assumed correctly. Your sister is the only one in the House who doesn’t know about my true allegiances. Thankfully, now that we have you on our side, it will be much easier to figure out how much she is ours already, and how to ensure that she becomes properly a member of Slytherin with knowledge about what kind of Princess I am,” Lily crossed her arms, her body language displaying the anxiety that her words did not. “The Inner Circle has been working on figuring out how to bring her into the fold… even Malfoy, despite his absence from our first meeting… but with you, it will go much more easily.”

Draco winced at the comment Lily had snuck in about his absence from the first meeting due to being drunk. 

“Oh, so is your relationship with my sister overcompensating for your earlier failure, then?” Percy asked Draco with a smirk.

“Did I say you could speak, Black? It’s not for you to judge the actions of my Inner Circle. Need I remind you,  _ I  _ am the Princess here,” Lily sharply reprimanded Percy. 

Percy clammed up at Lily’s sharp comment, and shook his head, quickly realizing that this Slytherin gathering was much more formal than he had expected, despite it being held in someone’s bedroom. 

“Anyway, Athanasia, what did you find out when you talked to Ginny about how dark she is and what she did with Lucretia?” Lily asked, looking in the direction of the fifth-year prefect. Percy seemed like he wanted to say something to answer the question about how involved his sister was in the Dark Arts, but thankfully, he kept quiet. Otherwise, he would have gotten another sharp comment from his Princess, this time about how she trusted her Slytherins more to report accurately on the knowledge of Ginny Weasley than her estranged brother who she hadn’t even been particularly close with prior to coming to Hogwarts. 

“Well, as Percy mentioned, she’s undergone her Rite of Presentation, which she seems to understand the significance of. She mentioned that Prewett had started mentioning the Rite of Dedication to her on her latest few visits to her house, rather incessantly, although she was conflicted about dedicating her life to a deity who was so unrecognized by the majority of the Wizarding world, at least  _ before  _ she was disowned by that blood traitor. I don’t actually know what her thoughts on it are now. She doesn’t seem inherently opposed to blood magic or other forms of magic that involve things like hair, but she has not been blood-adopted by Prewett, which means that although she does have an extended family through the Black line, she does not have magical parents. She also seems relatively on the fence about Dumbledore,” Julie reported. 

At the mention of the  _ dear  _ Headmaster’s name, everyone reacted negatively. “Well, that’s good at least. Twins, how is your quest to emphasize Ginny’s Black heritage and relations over her Weasley and Prewett heritage working out?”

The twins exchanged a questioning glance, and then Desi spoke up. “As far as we can tell, my Princess, there is no Prewett heritage to speak of. Molly’s blood-traitor brothers were killed by Death Eaters in the first Wizarding War, and her uncle is deceased. Since married-in family members do not typically earn family headship, Molly Weasley has been the head of the Prewett family since Ignatius’s death, and since Ginny was disowned by her she is no longer a Prewett. So, there’s that off the table. She also doesn’t seem to think much of her Weasley heritage, seeing as she’s barely talking to any of her siblings, and hasn’t been Owled by any of her relatives. Thankfully, she seems to be embracing our family motto fairly well, what with her recent relationship with our cousin,” Desi said with a smirk.

“Malfoy, how serious do you intend this relationship to be?” Lily said, narrowing her eyes slightly.

“As… serious as you approve of and she wants, my Princess,” Draco said, stuttering. “Provided that she turns out to be worthy to learn of who you are and join the Dark Side properly, and that you approve, she would be a reasonably fit future wife for me.”

“Such a decision would, naturally, have to be approved of by my father,” Lily answered, with a satisfied smile. “After all, you will one day be a Death Eater, and he approves marriages between Death Eaters and others.”

Despite his politically Dark alignment, Percy seemed somewhat startled by that fact. Lily almost scoffed. The boy was in his sixth year of Hogwarts, and didn’t have any knowledge of the protocols surrounding becoming a Death Eater? How useless  _ had  _ Prewett been, anyway? She supposed it was rather unhelpful that both she and her husband had been politically and spiritually aligned with the Dark Side, but not Death Eaters.

“Thank you, twins and Athanasia, good information. Now, all of you except for Malfoy and Black, clear out. And Julie, talk some more with Ginny. I’ll be expecting her shortly.”

Lily’s Inner Circle did as they were told, and Draco was the first to speak once the three were alone. “What can we help you with, my Princess?”

“Ginny will be learning who I am and where she belongs,” Lily answered. “Tonight.”


	18. Not As You Know Her

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Are you with us or not?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter contains depictions of lesbophobia/homophobia and abuse, as a Dementor is involved.

“My Princess… Draco…  _ Percy? _ ” Ginny was taken aback by the third figure in the room, and stared at him while Lily spoke to her.

“We have something to tell you, Ginny. You might want to sit down,” Lily instructed the young girl.

“O...kay,” Ginny, clearly confused, sat down on the chair next to Draco, and looked around at the rest of the chairs that were still out from Lily’s Inner Circle meeting, her eyes growing wider. “What are the other chairs for? Are there going to be more people?”

“Actually, no, they’re from an earlier meeting. Black, take care of those for us,” Lily instructed Percy. 

“Yes, my Princess,” he responded, and set to casting magic to fold the chairs and put them back in the corner.

Ginny’s eyes grew wider at the surname Lily chose to refer to Percy with. “Was he disowned too?”

“No. He just prefers to go by the surname Black in the company of those he trusts,” Lily answered. “Magical traditionalists, like everyone here… and members of the Dark Side, like myself and your boyfriend.”

Ginny, shocked, tried to stand up, only to find that a Permanent Sticking Charm had her stuck to her chair. “What do you mean?” she asked, visibly shaking.

“Oh, come on, Gin, you can’t have possibly thought that I wasn’t on the Dark Side. My father was a  _ Death Eater  _ in the first wizarding war!” Draco said, and reached out a hand to comfort Ginny, who flinched away.

“How is the Dark Side still around? The Dark Lord is dead! Is this… is this why you all call her your Princess?” Ginny asked, voice rising in panic.

“Actually, Voldemort was brought back to life by Bellatrix Lestrange after she escaped from Azkaban,” Lily answered. “And yes, the Dark Side being still around is  _ rather  _ why all the Slytherins call me their Princess. Because I’m the daughter of the Dark Lord. Adoptive, of course.”

“Sort of like how I was adopted by Aunt Lucretia, Ginny,” Percy added on.

Ginny stared at her brother, his admission somehow seeming more shocking than Lily’s. “You let her  _ adopt  _ you?”

“... Yes?” Percy asked, confused.

“After what she does? After what she did to her daughter?” she demanded.

“Hold up, let’s have this conversation later. This is important, but Ginny, I need to know that you’re on our side,” Lily said, stepping between the siblings. “Are you?” she asked, staring the young redhead down.

“I…”

“The Dark Side is the only one that will ever truly care about you, Ginny. You think if you go crawling to Dumbledore he’ll save you and give you a proper home? He won’t. You’re a Slytherin, and he doesn’t care about those, and you’ve been disowned from one of the most prominent blood traitor families.” Lily said, interrupting Ginny’s hesitance. “Dumbledore stuck me with my abusive Muggle aunt and uncle because he thought being abused for nine years of my life would build character and deflate my ego. Last year, Severus Snape  _ raped  _ me, and Dumbledore ignored it, still letting him teach at this school because he believes he was possessed by dark magic, when in reality  _ my father  _ was the one who stopped him. The Dark Side doesn’t tolerate children of Magic being mistreated, especially by their own parents and foster Presenters. We can make Lucretia disappear, but only if you’re with us. Are you with us or not?”

Ginny sat in front of Lily, frozen - and not because of the sticking charm. Lily noticed Percy crossing the room towards her and whispering something in her ear, something that she couldn’t hear, try as she might. She couldn’t even figure it out through Legilimency either - Ginny’s mind was too much of a chaotic jumble and Percy’s was too guarded. Whatever it was, it shocked Ginny. Her face went pale, and when Percy went back to her seat, she looked Lily in the eye and said, “I’m with you,”

“Good,” Lily answered. “Now tell us everything you know about Lucretia Prewett.”

***

That was how, later that evening, Lily and her Inner Circle, along with the newly named Percy and Ginny  _ Black,  _ stood with the Dark Lord and his Inner Circle in front of a full assembly of Death Eaters. Lily could tell that Ginny was nervous, but to her credit, she was calm enough that it wasn’t showing physically. 

Walden Macnair dragged in a sobbing Lucretia Prewett, and dropped her unceremoniously at the Dark Lord’s feet. She looked up at her master, pain and tears in her eyes.

The look of hatred on Ginny’s face was a more angry look than Lily had ever seen in her life - except for maybe Uncle Vernon’s way of looking at her the multiple times he had nearly strangled her in her pre-Hogwarts years. She watched as Percy put a comforting arm over Ginny’s shoulders and whispered, “ _ Don’t worry, he’s going to get her.”  _

“Lucretia  _ Prewett,”  _ the Dark Lord said as he strode in front of her, her eyes only able to see his boots. “What a pity that we must meet this way. I would have hoped that you would have made yourself more interesting since school.”

A look of confusion flitted over Lucretia’s eyes as she realized that meant that the Dark Lord himself must have attended Hogwarts. Quiet murmuring filled the room as more Death Eaters speculated on what was going on and who Voldemort had been before he chose his new name, but his response was to simply hold up a hand, at which the entire group fell silent. 

“You - not even a Marked Death Eater of the lowest echelon, simply a political ally - took it upon yourself, after the oh-so-tragic death of your daughter, to train two more magical children in a similar way,” He hissed, indicating the Black siblings - although Lucretia would not be able to see their faces. 

“With that said, I think it’s time you meet the newest version of someone you haven’t seen in quite a while.  _ Nova, dear, come!”  _ he called out, as an icy-cold chill swept through the room. 

The murmuring in the room rose to a crescendo as a  _ Dementor  _ entered the room, and this time Voldemort didn’t stop it. Lily watched with wide eyes as Bellatrix Lestrange uttered an incantation she hadn’t heard before,  _ Expecto Patronum,  _ and the form of a cobra leaped out of her wand, as dark as the midnight sky. 

“She’ll make sure you’re safe from the Dementor,” Bellatrix said dismissively when Lily looked at her with wide eyes.

Following her lead, various other Death Eaters cast the same charm, and a variety of dark-colored animals, many of whom were somewhat snake-like, appeared out of their wands in various smoky colors, some in lighter shades than others.

Lucretia, however, was unprotected. “Nova?” she asked, pushing herself to her feet. “Is it really you?”

“Not in the way you knew her… but then again, did you ever really know her? You certainly didn’t act like you did,” The Dark Lord glared at her. “Nova,  _ kiss her. _ ”

As the Dementor moved towards Lucretia’s body, lowering herself closer to the floor, Lily couldn’t help but notice the dread in the pit of her stomach. The other Inner Circle kids looked like they were doing fine, all protected by Bellatrix’s charm. So why was Lily worse off? She was a  _ Princess.  _

She barely paid any attention to the dramatic “kiss”, which resulted in Ginny crumpling into her older brother’s arms and crying while he comforted her. The Dark Lord looked at her derisively, but then went on to talk about how Lucretia Prewett’s death should serve a lesson to anyone who thought it was appropriate to mistreat a magical child. Lily’s head was spinning, and the Dementor - the Dementor that apparently had a name - started wandering further towards her. 

“What is it  _ doing _ ?” asked Draco, disgustedly.

Lily’s heart was beating out of her chest as words spoken by the Dursleys over the years, and ones they would say if they knew about her now,  rang in her head. “ _ Freak. Disgusting. Dyke. Queer.”  _

Not entirely sure what she was doing, but guided by magic and what she’d seen Bellatrix doing, she lifted her wand, willing away the memories of what the Dursleys would say if they knew she’d become a witch who loved other witches, and focusing instead on the memories of the times she’d spent with Hermione. “ _ Expecto Patronum!” _

Everyone looked on in shock, even her father, as a lioness bolted out of her wand and pounced at the Dementor, her silvery-black hair shining. The Dementor started shaking and trying to retreat, but then the lioness changed tactics, She sat down, pulling the Dementor down to the floor with her, and lifted up a paw to her face, which she licked affectionately. Lily, feeling her own magic surge around the Dementor, looked on, transfixed, as the black fumes faded away and a girl not much older than her in a Hogwarts uniform sat on the floor of Slytherin Manor, embracing her Patronus. 

“Everyone except for Narcissa and Bellatrix,  _ out,”  _ the Dark Lord barked. 


	19. What Protects You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lily faces a Dementor for the second time.

As the rest of the Death Eaters left Slytherin Manor, Lily watched as her father instructed Ophelia Greengrass to take Nova to one of the guest rooms and do what she could to help her. Then, he Apparated alongside Lily and the Black sisters to the sitting room. He instructed the sisters to sit down on the sofa opposite him, and then told Lily to sit next to him. 

“Lily, did you intend to do what you just did?” he then asked. 

Lily blinked. Her father was able to read her mind, so clearly the question was just to know whether she would lie to him or not, and she intended to do nothing of the sort. “I didn’t. It just sort of… happened. It was like the lioness I made had a mind of her own.”

Her father nodded, satisfied, and then turned to Bellatrix. “Bellatrix, you know the most about Patronuses out of all of my Death Eaters. Have you ever seen one act so independently?”

So that was what the creature she had made was called, Lily realized. A Patronus.

Bellatrix smirked a little as she answered the question, giving more detail about the nature of Patronuses and probably intending to inform Lily about them. “Patronuses are what someone is at their core, beyond all the pretenses. That’s why the Patronuses of people who eventually end up together will sometimes match or be affectionate with each other when cast together. So honestly, I’ve only really seen Patronuses act independently when someone is suppressing something, like when my blood traitor cousins Regulus and Sirius ended up casting theirs at the same time and they showed affection that is much more typical for lovers than brothers.”

A smile curved across Narcissa’s face, as her hand clasped Bellatrix’s on the couch. “But when you belong to the part of wizardkind that believes magical bonds are sacred, regardless of who they are between, you don’t have to suppress that like you do if you’re on the Light side, do you, Bella?”

“No, you don’t, dear,” Bellatrix smiled back, and Lily’s eyes grew wide. So she had a suppressed magical connection with this Nova Prewett? And two sets of siblings, one set including the person who was imprisoned in Azkaban despite not actually having helped her father kill the Potters, also had a bond like this?

“Thank you for the information, Bellatrix. Narcissa, kindly make sure that your Princess is alright magically, and then you and your sister can leave,” he responded, a smirk also on his face. “I imagine you’re both ready to be alone after Bellatrix cast such a powerful Patronus charm.” 

Somehow, Narcissa managed to keep a straight face as she did the magical equivalent of checking Lily’s vitals, and Lily couldn’t help but imagine what the two Black sisters might be doing tonight. She wondered if the twins and Draco knew about their relationship. She wondered if  _ Lucius  _ knew. She figured it would serve him right if he didn’t, to be honest. 

Soon, Narcissa and Bellatrix were gone, and Lily was left with her father, who was gazing at her intensely. “A-are you mad that my Patronus wasn’t all dark like Bellatrix’s was?”

“No,” he answered. “You haven’t gone through all the magical rites, and Bellatrix has. Besides, she is the most skilled at casting the Patronus charm among our Death Eaters. What I am concerned about is why you have such a connection with Nova Prewett. So we’re going to see why,” 

Lily felt a knot form in her stomach as she anticipated what “seeing why” might entitle from her father while he left the room to get something mysterious. She remembered the last time she had been tested by him, with Resiliency Training, and she wondered if today would be similar.

Her father returned with a cabinet with a milky glass front, and placed it on the floor in front of Lily. “The creature that comes out of here will take the form of your worst fear,” he told her.

“I don’t know what my worst fear is,” Lily said. There were a lot of things she’d been afraid of before she’d become the daughter of Voldemort and so powerful, and she didn’t want to think that any of those things would be her greatest fear anymore.

“It won’t surprise you, regardless of what it is,” Voldemort answered, and then pointed his wand at the cabinet. “ _ Alohomora.” _

Like before, a feeling of dread swept over Lily as she came face to face with a Dementor. She felt light-headed, and cruel words from her aunt and uncle and Snape rang in her ears. “Wh.. what do I do?” she asked her father, panicked.

“What you did before,” he responded, his voice showing no sign of emotion.

Again, Lily did her best to remember the happy times she’d had with Hermione. “ _ Expecto Patronum!”  _ she yelled, thrusting her wand at the Dementor.

A gust of mist came out of her wand, knocking the Dementor back slightly but not doing much. It buckled over, but then advanced back at her, as intent as it had been before.

“Why didn’t it work?” Lily asked, panicked. 

“Think about it, Lily Dorea Slytherin. What actually protects you? Not your happiest memory, but what makes you feel safest,” her father responded, meeting her eyes for the first time since he’d returned to the room.

Lily’s breath caught in her chest as she realized why a Dementor was her worst fear, slightly after her father had. She thought back to her first Death Eater meeting as the Dark Princess - how confident she’d felt as they had all sworn loyalty to her - and pointed her wand at the Dementor more definitively. “ _ Expecto Patronum!” _

A black and silver lioness leapt out of her wand, and crashed into the Dementor, forcing it back into the box it had come from, as Lily collapsed in exhaustion on the floor of the sitting room. 


	20. The Black Sisters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After her father comforts her, Lily finds herself in need of celebration. (very NSFW chapter; includes Blackcest, Lily/Narcissa and Lily/Bellatrix.)

Lily woke up in one of the rooms in Slytherin Manor with a piece of chocolate being pushed between her lips. She blinked open her eyes to see her father sitting on her bed, looking at her with concern, swallowed down the chocolate and tried to speak.

“Shhh. Not yet,” As she tried to speak, Lily felt a searing pain in her throat, and she processed that she didn’t have enough strength to sit up yet, and didn’t feel like she would be very useful when it came to performing magic.

“I may have pushed you too far,” her father said, taking another piece of chocolate from a plate on his lap and feeding it to her. She looked up at him with wide eyes, not wanting to agree but not wanting to disagree. 

“You’ve had a very stressful evening, and it may have been a bad decision to push a second encounter on you like that. I thought it would help you discover your strengths and weaknesses, but… I didn’t want to hurt you like this,” He reached out a hand to caress her face, and she shook her head. 

“I’m okay,” she managed to squeak out, and her father gave her a sad smile and gave her another piece of chocolate.

“Dementors, as you have seen tonight, are the final form of an individual unable to control their magic due to having to suppress it, most frequently due to trauma or abuse,” he explained to her, feeding her chocolate as he explained. “Through this suppression, the individual loses control of their magic and it turns parasitic, starting with them becoming an Obscurial. If something does not happen to reverse the process, the Obscurial eventually becomes completely replaced by their magic and turns into a Dementor,” Lily nodded.

“We thought that this process was irreversible, until tonight. It appears that you have a strong desire to save other magical individuals from such a situation, and that desire manifested itself in your Patronus. I believe that this desire is because your conditions living with the Dursleys were so similar to what could make an individual an Obscurial. I’d like to think that what protected you from becoming an Obscurial was having a part of my soul inside you… because honestly, otherwise it easily could have happened.”

Overwhelmed with emotion, Lily sat up and clung to her father, hugging him. He froze up at first, but eventually became more friendly, patting her on the back with one arm while holding her with the other. “Are you okay?” he asked. “I mean, I know you won’t be completely okay, but… as okay as you can be, right now?”

“Yeah,” she said quietly. “Thank you.”

***

Once she’d recovered, Lily chose a sparkly silver dress from her wardrobe, and cast various charms on her hair to make sure that it stayed in the style she had chosen. She knew that Narcissa and Bellatrix were bound to be up to  _ something  _ interesting, so she made her way to the nearest Floo Network gate and said “Malfoy Manor!”

Once she arrived, she followed the same route she previously had to get to Narcissa’s bedroom, and knocked on the door. She could surprise her hosts, but she figured that her presence at Narcissa’s door would be surprise enough.

“One moment, dear!” she heard Narcissa’s voice call out, presumably thinking that Lily was Lucius. Unfazed, and unwilling to wait, Lily cast  _ Alohomora  _ on the door and strode right through, to find Narcissa hastily slipping her dress back over her shoulders while Bellatrix buttoned up her blouse.

“The Black sisters! How delightful it is to see both of you. Just as I expected,” Lily smirked, and let the door close with a satisfying  _ click.  _ “Don’t stop on account of me. That’s an order,”

Narcissa was blushing, but she discarded her dress again and Bella did the same before pouncing on her younger sister. Lily watched, transfixed, as Bellatrix lowered her mouth to Narcissa’s chest and inserted a finger inside her. Why hadn’t she done this with Hermione yet? The rise and fall of Narcissa’s chest transfixed Lily so much more than sex with Tom had. Then again, these were two people, putting on a show for  _ her.  _

Eventually, Lily tired of the watching, and as she slipped out of her own dress Narcissa came with a satisfying moan. Lily smirked and sat down on the king-sized bed next to Narcissa, letting her hand move across Narcissa’s breast. The younger Black sister squirmed as Lily pinched her nipple with two fingers. 

“How scandalous, that your husband doesn’t know,” Lily whispered, her lips centimeters away from Narcissa’s, before she sealed them with a kiss. Bella sat as properly as reasonably possible on the other side of the bed, but Lily could tell that she was hungering to take Narcissa again, and perhaps even to do something with Lily herself. 

“You’ll get what you want,” she said, lifting her head up and looking at the older woman. “Serve me.”

Bellatrix gasped, but obediently scooted towards Lily as she laid herself down on the bed, spreading her legs. This felt much more intense than the time she had shared with Tom, and she was  _ sure  _ that Bellatrix would be better.  _ Or else.  _ She smiled hazily as Bellatrix first started kissing up her thighs, soon moving to her most sensitive place.

“Remember… even though you’re being the dominant, you can safeword any time if you need to,” said Narcissa, short of breath.

Lily turned her face towards Narcissa, confusion on her face. “Safeword? What’s that?”

Narcissa’s eyes went wide, and a similar “oh, fuck” expression to the one that she’d had when Lily first entered the room crossed her face. “A safeword… it’s a BDSM term for a word you use when something is too intense, and you want to stop. “Red” or just “safeword” are common ones.”

Bellatrix lifted her head, probably wanting to stop while Lily had sex explained to her, but Lily pushed her head back down between her legs without warning. “Stay. I didn’t say ‘red’, did I?” She then turned to Narcissa. “Why not just “stop”?”

“Sometimes… people like to play with consent, and stop doesn’t actually mean stop, because they like to pretend that they don’t like it,” Narcissa explained. “That’s called consensual non-consent.”

Lily didn’t think that sounded like her kind of thing, especially not if she was the one pretending she didn’t want it. She’d had enough experiences where she  _ actually  _ didn’t want it. “And what’s BDSM?”

Bellatrix continued sucking at Lily as Narcissa explained, making her make breathless noises and moans. “BDSM stands for bondage, dominance or discipline, sadism or submission and masochism. Dominance is what you’re doing right now, sadism is -” 

“I know what sadism is.  _ Crucio!”  _ Lily said, pointing her wand at Narcissa, and as the red sparks hit her she screamed in a way that made Lily instinctively move her hips closer to Bella so she could get as much friction as possible. She could feel Bellatrix smile, and amidst the sounds of the screaming and Bellatrix pleasing her she came, panting breathlessly.

She stopped the curse, and Narcissa looked at her with wide eyes, but she didn’t seem upset. In fact, it seemed to almost make her more turned on, and she licked her lips as Lily smirked. “Right. So you know that one. Submission is the opposite of what you’re doing right now, masochism is… well, an example of that is me liking the curse you just cast on me.”

“Good girl,” Lily smiled, and beckoned Narcissa closer to seal her lips in a kiss again. When she came up for air, she saw Bellatrix almost dreamily smiling at her and Narcissa, Lily’s wetness all over her face.

“Well, don’t just sit there looking pretty. I want you to use your fingers on me,” Lily instructed Bellatrix, who gasped, but obeyed, plunging her finger inside Lily as Lily went back to kissing Narcissa. 

“Have you… done this kind of thing before?” Narcissa gasped, as Lily’s lips moved to her neck.

“A lady doesn’t kiss and tell, Cissy.” Lily said, laughing. 


	21. What You Have Earned

Later that evening - or really, early the next morning - Lily didn’t notice that Hermione was awake when she crawled into her bed in the Gryffindor dormitory, exhausted and smelling like sex and the perfumes the Black sisters had worn. She didn’t notice Hermione’s lip tremble as she laid her head down on the pillow, and she didn’t notice Hermione turn away from her to face the wall of Gryffindor Tower.

So when Hermione barely spoke to her that morning, she just thought it was because they were both tired. She just assumed Hermione had been up late studying. She fell into step with Percy as the Gryffindors filed into the Great Hall, whose face looked a little more colorful than normal, but she wasn’t sure why. 

The third sign of Hermione’s irritation at her came when they were in Potions class, and Lily asked her to pass the beetles to her. “But of course,  _ my Princess,”  _ Hermione said, in a tone that was at the same time much more formal than usual and irritated. 

Lily didn’t have enough energy to find a time before the end of the day to ask Hermione what the hell was going on, and her brain was still swimming from the realization that Dementors were the final form of an Obscurial, so all she did was pull Hermione aside when the rest of the Gryffindors in her year were about to head into the Common Room.

“What?” Hermione snapped, looking her up and down.

“You’ve been acting strange all day,” Lily said.

“Well,  _ you  _ came into the dormitory in the middle of the night looking and smelling like you’d partied all night! I’ve ignored your absences at lights-out before, but this is something different! This is  _ irresponsible _ !” Hermione squeaked. 

“Partying is irresponsible?” Lily asked in a dry tone. “How many Slytherin House parties have you been to, Granger?”

Hermione bristled at the use of her last name. “I’ve only ever been with  _ you! _ And you’re not telling me what’s going on, which probably means it’s dangerous, against the rules, illegal, or all of the above!”

Well, at least her assessment was correct, Lily thought wryly, as she pushed Hermione into a secluded corner of the floor. Hermione squeaked again as Lily’s face came closer to her so she could whisper to her.

“Do you want to know what’s going on, Hermione? Do you  _ want  _ your world to be changed forever?”

“It already has been,” Hermione answered stubbornly. “I was a Muggleborn, and then it turned out I  _ didn’t  _ exactly have no wizarding heritage.”

“Fine,” Lily snapped, grabbing Hermione’s hand. “Come with me, then.”

***

Thankfully, Hermione didn’t ask too many questions as Lily led her to the  _ actually  _ secret entrance to the Chamber of Secrets, at least not until they entered the long hall that lead into the proper Chamber. “Where are we?” she asked, shivering in the dark light.

“Your grave,  _ Mudbood,” _ came a voice from behind Hermione and Lily. Lily instinctively spun around, hitting the mystery taunter with a full-body-bind cursel.

Hermione looked at Lily, eyes wide and lips trembling. “Is… is Montague right?  _ Are  _ you going to kill me? For asking too many questions? For doubting you?”

Lily rolled her eyes. “No. You are one of my best friends, and a daughter of the House of Black. You are  _ not  _ the kind of unworthy presence that the Heir of Slytherin seeks to irradicate from Hogwarts. On the other hand… he is,” She kicked Montague’s frozen body with her foot, making sure he heard everything. Really? After she’d gotten him in trouble for calling Hermione a Mudblood in her first year, he was going to do it again? And was thinking that Lily had lead her down to the Chamber to  _ kill  _ her?

“The Heir of Slytherin?” Hermione asked, hands shaking this time. “You’re… you’re not the Girl Who Lived, are you?”

A slow smile spread across Lily’s face. “Yes, I am Lily Dorea Potter, the Girl Who Lived. Or… I used to be. I am now, and have been since the night Snape kissed me, Lily Dorea Slytherin, the blood-adopted daughter of the Dark Lord and Magic’s chosen Princess. I killed John Meyer. I am purifying Hogwarts of those who are unworthy… a large category of which is those who do not respect Magic, me, or people who are mine.”

Not giving Hermione much of a chance to respond, and certainly not giving Montague the chance to have any last words other than insulting her Hermione, she turned towards him. “ _ Avada Kedavra.” _

Like it had the first time she’d followed her father’s instruction and killed someone unworthy, her magic sang with happiness. She could feel the satisfaction of the Basilisk, buried deep within the chamber, and the spirit of Salazar Slytherin congratulating her. All she wanted to do was to claim her Hermione like she had claimed the Black sisters the previous night.

Barely paying attention to the tears spilling from Hermione’s eyes, she pushed her against the wall of the Chamber, and captured her lips with a fierce kiss. Hermione had gone completely still, and wasn’t responding to her like she usually did, which Lily realized when she put a hand on her waist and she didn’t instinctively move forward to be closer to her. She released Hermione and stepped back, blood pounding in her ears and making her dizzy. The voice of the Basilisk echoed in her ears, “ _ Take what you have earned, Heiress of Slytherin. And if she is not pleasing, kill her like you killed the brat.”  _ Her hands twitched as she pocketed her wand, ignoring the voice egging her on. Maybe the old Heir of Slytherin would’ve done that, but she was better than that.

“Get out of here,” Lily hissed at Hermione. That was the best she could do. 


	22. Pleasure

Barely stopping to process what had happened, Lily found her way to Snape’s office and entered his fireplace without a word to him, Flooing to Malfoy Manor. She wanted someone to be good for her, and since the person who was  _ supposed  _ to be good wasn’t doing a very good job of it, she supposed she’d just need to find another member of the House of Black who had already served her well - specifically, Narcissa Malfoy.

She found her in the sitting room of Malfoy Manor, working on a sewing project. “Put that down and attend to your Princess,” Lily instructed harshly. 

Narcissa dropped the project and immediately rushed to Lily’s side. “What do you require, my Princess?”

“I require a repeat of our previous intimacy,” Lily said. Narcissa froze up a little, and Lily could tell that she was terrified of having a sexual encounter with the Princess without Bellatrix there. They’d have to work on that.

“Oh, don’t worry, Narcissa,” Lily said, reaching out and caressing the older Black woman’s cheek. “You’re a good girl, all you need to do is follow my lead and enjoy what I give you… which, given your masochistic streak, shouldn’t be too hard.” 

“Oh…” Narcissa smiled, clearly becoming turned on by Lily touching her and the direction Lily was taking the encounter.

“Now, take me to your bedroom,” Lily said, holding out an arm so Narcissa could Apparate them there. 

***

A few seconds later, Lily found herself in Narcissa’s bedroom, where she collapsed on the bed and lazily vanished her clothes. “Come. Be a good girl. You can taste this time,” she said with a smirk as Narcissa awkwardly sat on the edge of her own bed. 

Narcissa’s eyes widened in shock again, and she obediently lowered her head between Lily’s legs. Lily, unconcerned with whether she hurt  _ this  _ particular person who was hers, buried her hands in Narcissa’s platinum hair and pulled. The noise that Narcissa made made it obvious that she  _ liked  _ it quite a lot, so Lily kept a careful hand on Narcissa’s head, guiding and pushing it so she did the best job possible at pleasing her Princess. She finally came with a loud “ _ yes!”  _ , feeling the tension that had been coiled up inside her since she’d heard Montague’s voice in the Chamber finally unravel. 

“Good job,” she said to Narcissa, grabbing onto the blonde’s hand to pull her up higher on the bed. She let Narcissa’s head rest on her chest for a moment, where she stroked her hair gently. They stayed like that in silence for a few moments, until Lily lifted her wand and aimed it at Narcissa. “ _ Summagaudens Feverus.” _

The sound that came from Narcissa as the firey orgasm spell wrapped around her body was a cross between a scream and a sigh, and she fell off Lily and onto the other side of the bed, her vagina clenching and unclenching around the air. It was fascinating to watch, and it was fascinating to be able to  _ control  _ a woman in that way. Barely waiting for the spell to wear off, she positioned herself on top of Narcissa and plunged two fingers into the vagina that she imagined must be desperately aching for non-phantom sensation. Narcissa immediately clenched up around Lily, whimpering “ _ My Princess…”  _ as Lily thrusted in and out of her. 

“Yes, Narcissa?” she asked, pausing for a moment to capture Narcissa’s lips in an agressive kiss.

“S-so much…!” Narcissa said in a shaky voice, her body moving against Lily’s fingers in a desperate bid for friction. “S-show me how to… make me be good for you?”

Narcissa’s wide blue eyes searched Lily’s expression for a reaction, and after a long moment Lily smirked and answered, “Alright, Cissy. Since you asked so nicely.  _ Imperius!”  _ The curse hit Narcissa like a bolt of lightining, and she gasped, a blissful expression appearing on her face despite - and probably because - of the intensity and pain of what Lily was doing to her. 

“Tell me what I mean to you,” Lily said in a low growl as she continued fucking Narcissa at a frantic pace.

“My Princess,  _ oh…”  _ Narcissa’s eyes were almost glazed over with the pleasure of her multiple orgasms, but she managed to remain coherent thanks to the curse Lily had put on her. “You are the rightful heiress to Slytherin, and to the Champion of Magic, and you are so much more than the Girl Who Lived that Dumbledore and his minions think of you as. And not only that, but you are..” She gasped for air, overwhelmed, “you are, along with Bella, a welcome respite from the monotony as the woman of Malfoy Manor and a daughter of the House of Black… I adore being able to submit to you without fear that you will use it innapropriately, not that you ever could as the Dark Princess,” 

“Good girl. So eager… and so honest,” Lily gave Narcissa another orgasm with a last push against the walls of her vagina, and claimed her lips again, biting them. Narcissa made an eager noise at the back of her throat, prompting Lily to wrap a hand around her neck and pull their bodies closer to each other. 

They were so wrapped up in each other that they didn’t notice Lucius Malfoy clearing his throat until he thundered “Narcissa! What is the meaning of this?”

***

Narcissa froze up against Lily, and Lily climbed off of her, not even bothering to put on clothes. She could see Lucius’s eyes, intruiged look at her body and then look away and towards his wife, shame coursing through him.

“Surely you are not upset at your wife for serving me in any way I desire, Malfoy,” Lily said, voice cold.

“I… no, of course not, my Princess, presuming the Dark Lord approves,” Lucius answered, voice shaking. “Would you mind leaving us for a moment so I may talk with my wife privately?”

“No,” Lily said in a sharp tone, reaching over to carress Narcissa’s hand in an almost

protective way. “Anything you wish to say to your wife right now should also be appropriate for

the ears of Lady Magic’s chosen Princess.”

_ So choose your words carefully, you miserable excuse for a wizard,  _ was what she didn’t

say. She hadn’t forgotten how abusive Lucius had been against his son. 

“Bellatrix? Really, Cissa?” Lucius asked with a sigh. “I know our… arrangement permits you dalliances with other women, but your own  _ sister?” _

“We have a bond, dearest, that I don’t believe you will ever understand, seeing as our marriage bond is one of convenience as opposed to true romance,” Narcissa stated plainly. Everything about her was composed, almost like she hadn’t just been fucked by a storm of a princess, but she squeezed Lily’s hand for reassurance.

Lucius opened his mouth but seemed to think better of it, noting Lily’s displeased expression. “I… see.”

“Our Narcissa here was in the middle of recieving pleasure,” Lily said sharply, narrowing her eyes at Lucius. “The most you can do to apologize for your untoward interruption is to give her pleasure for  _ once. _ ”

Narcissa let out a little giggle, which Lily smiled at. So she  _ was _ right, their sex life really was lackluster.

“O-of course, my Princess. Would you like to… leave for this?” Lucius asked. Lily could tell he was desperately hoping she would say yes.

“Of course not, Lucius,” Lily jumped up from the bed and ran her fingers down Lucius’s shirt, noticing how he immediately tensed up at the contact and relishing the power. “I think you already know I like both being and having an audience.”


	23. 500 Magical Uses for Muggle Plants

Lily managed to return to Gryffindor Tower before lights-out, slipping in with a library book under her arm so as to explain where she’d been all afternoon and evening. 

“ _ 500 Magical Uses for ‘Muggle’ Plants?  _ Didn’t take you for a herbologist, Princess,” Fred Weasley said, snorting. 

“Yeah, well, I’m only in my second year. It’s good to branch out,” Lily answered, before she bounded up the stairs to the common room. It was actually one of the most politically Dark books in the non-restricted portion of the library without being actually dark. Most people didn’t think that “boring” Muggle plants needed to be paid attention to. But the truth was that a compitent witch or wizard could easily find magical uses for pretty much any natural thing. She slipped into her bed in the common room, managing to slip the diary in between the pages of the book. On the other side of the dorm room, Hermione’s face was red and puffy - clearly she’d been crying for a good while. Lily’s stomach tensed up - why did she need to cry? Couldn’t she just understand how  _ amazing  _ Lily was? Lily balled her fists up, forcing herself to stare at the book instead of Hermione. Was this how Tom had felt when McGonnagal had refused to join him in his plan of creating seven Horcruxes?

Soon, it was lights out, and Hermione promptly turned over on her side and went to sleep. Lily couldn’t help but shake the worry that she’d fucked up badly, that somehow what had happened with Hermione would turn into Dumbledore confronting her about being the Dark Lord’s heiress, and that would turn into failing her father, and that would turn into losing the war. How had she been so  _ stupid?  _ She knew that if she wanted to completely destroy any risk of her secret getting out, she could get away with killing Hermione, or with breaking her so badly that she couldn’t tell. But she couldn’t bring herself to do that.

Unable to sleep, she called out to Tom in her mind.  _ Talk to me. I need you.  _

Tom materialized in her mind palace, sitting cross-legged on steps in front of her. “The Dark Princess needs me? How interesting. How may I be of service, my Princess?” he asked, a smile playing at the corners of his lips.

“How do I… how do I make someone see that I’m right? That the Dark Side  _ is  _ the right one? That erradicating the unworthy isn’t evil, it’s just?” she asked him.

“Tough questions, little Princess,” he said, laughing a little. “Come sit?”

Lily was so distraught that she wasn’t even bothered by Tom’s nicknaming of her. Wordlessly, she stood up from the floor that she was sitting and walked over to Tom, feeling compelled to be closer to him. She laid her head down in his lap. “Help me sleep?” she asked.

“Sure,” he said, conjuring an exquisitely soft and thick carpet underneath them and then moving his hand to run through her hair. “So, you want to know how to make someone see that you’re right?”

“Yeah?” she asked, squeaking a little and feeling every inch the little Princess he had said she was. The entire afternoon and evening had been about being strong and powerful - killing someone for the second time, pushing Hermione up against a wall to kiss her and apparently making her cry a lot, being very dominant over Narcissa and making sure that Lucius knew he was  _ her  _ Death Eater, too - and she just needed to relax. 

“If it’s any consolation, I don’t think she’ll tell your secret,” Tom answered, as he continued running his hand through her hair and massaging her scalp. “And I’m not just saying that to make you feel better - I don’t B.S. people. I think that telling your secret when you care for her so much and just protected her, and have been doing nothing but protecting and uplifting her since the two of you entered Hogwarts, would seem like betrayal. And Lily, Hermione might be a rule-follower, but she’s loyal above all else, and she has no reason to be loyal to the man who denied her heritage and kept her from learning that she was magical before she was 11. Or his minions.”

“He did the same thing to me,” Lily grumbled. 

“Yeah, Albus Dumbledore’s a fucker, this has already been established,” Tom said, laughing a little. “But as for how to make her properly join our side… do you still want to know? Even if it might not fit with your morals?”

“Of  _ course  _ I still want to know,” Lily answered, squirming defensively in Tom’s lap. “What do you take me for, the Light’s little lamb?”

“Of course I don’t,” Tom explained in a soft tone, “but you might not want to manipulate her.”  
Lily looked at him, affixing him with a cold stare. “Salazar Slytherin might have been wrong about _how_ I should claim her, but I still want to, and I don’t mind if that includes manipulation. I’m the Heiress of Slytherin, and she’s mine, and I deserve to have her.”

“A snake in lion’s clothes,” Tom said, chuckling. “Alright then. You need to make her feel indebted to you. Rescue her. From what doesn’t really matter, just do something that proves to her that you and the Dark Side care more about her than Dumbledore and his minions will ever even claim to care about magical children. Hell, if her parents are fine and everything else is fine then you might have to make up something to rescue her, or use your people for an interesting purpose. Percy Weasley seems like he isn’t on your side, after all, and I doubt he’d mind risking himself to serve you. I’m sure you can figure something out.”

“‘Course I can. I’ll fix her,” Lily insisted, and then curled up into Tom’s chest. 

“Should we be somewhere more comfortable for sleeping?” he asked. 

“Just do whatever,” Lily said. “I’m tired.”

“Okay then, Princess,” Tom said, and soon they were in a luxurious bed, covered with furs. Lily curled up into Tom, burying her face in his chest. “I’ll fix this,” she insisted.

As she felt herself drift off to sleep, she thought she heard him whisper, “That’s my daughter.”


	24. Mine

The next day after classes, Lily was relaxing in the Slytherin common room, talking with Eva and some other girls in her Inner Circle, when Draco came running up to her. “My Princess!” he exclaimed, panting.

“What is it, Draco?” Lily asked, putting her tea down and turning towards him.

“Crabbe and Goyle… they heard you telling the twins that Hermione was being useless and innapropriate towards you in response to you revealing who you were earlier… and they decided to do something about it!” he panted.

“What did they do about it, Malfoy?” Lily hissed, not quite sure who she was mad at but knowing she was furious.

“I… they…  _ carved  _ into her skin,” Draco said in a defeated tone. Behind him was Silas, holding an unconscious Hermione in his arms, and two other seventh-year boys, restraining Crabbe and Goyle.

“Everyone except for the Inner Circle, go to your dorms,” Lily yelled. The students who had been studying or goofing off in the common room immediately packed up their things and rushed up to the dorm rooms. The rest of the Inner Circle surrounded Lily, looking to her for instructions.

“Put her down on the sofa, Silas,” Lily told him. He obeyed, putting Hermione down on the sofa facing Lily.

Lily stood up and walked over to her, brushing her hair away from her face to see a still highly flushed face. It was evident she’d been in a lot of pain. Despite her being unconscious, the arm that Crabbe and Goyle had cut into was still twitching. And there, written in large, uneven handwriting, still bleeding, was the word  _ Mudblood. _

“She. Is. Thirteen,” Lily whirled on the two, wand out. “How exactly were you planning on explaining this? Why did you think it was a good idea?”

“I dunno, I mean there’s a lot of dark magic already goin’ on at Hogwarts, a little more wouldn’t be a bad idea…” Goyle answered, stumbling over his words.

Lily hit him with an  _ Incendio,  _ watching in satisfaction as the flames licked at his clothes and skin. “Not a fucking good enough answer, Goyle. We’re going for  _ subtlety,  _ not that you’d understand any of that, and  _ untraceability.  _ Madame Pomfrey would be able to tell in five seconds who’d done that.  _ Neither  _ of you are good enough Dark wizards to hide the traces of your own magic like that. You directly behaved contrary to what you  _ knew  _ I would want, carved the word Mudblood into her skin when I killed Montague for far less…”

Crabbe and Goyle’s eyes widened in shock.

“Oh yes, I killed him, and for calling my Hermione that word. I know that most of Hogwarts doesn’t care about the arsehole Quidditch player’s death, but it was symbolic. You know I am loathe to spill magical blood, but in the Dark Order’s new world, we use words  _ correctly.  _ And we actually care about Muggleborns, so they  _ don’t turn into Mudbloods.” _ Lily hissed. “Honestly, if I can’t fix this, what do you think would be a  _ better _ way to ensure that once she’s legally of age she hates the Dark Side and everything it represents, and  _ hates Magic? _ ”

“We’re sorry, my Princess,” Crabbe whispered.

“Sorry isn’t good enough. You will die for this. But not before your last sounds are screams.  _ Crucio!”  _ Red light descended on Crabbe, and he screamed out in pain. 

“Twins, fix your misguided followers. I can’t be bothered,” Lily said, and walked over to Hermione.

She sat on the edge of the couch, and used a minor healing spell to knit up some of the cut and ease the pain. It was hardly anything, but she didn’t really know what else to do with something this big. Hermione’s eyes fluttered open, and when she looked down at her arm and saw it again, she screamed. 

Lily put a hand over Hermione’s mouth, which Hermione almost bit but thought better of. “Where am I? Am I…  _ there _ again?” she asked, horror in her quiet voice.

“No. You’re in the Slytherin common room. And we’re doing our best to fix you,” Lily answered in a soothing voice, then, against her better judgement, pressed a kiss to Hermione’s lips. 

Hermione responded immediately, lips desperately seeking out Lily’s. When they finally broke their kiss, she whispered “... I’m sorry. You were just trying to protect me. Something that’s clearly necessary.”

“Hermione, no. This wasn’t your fault.” Lily said, trying to keep her voice soft.

“But it probably  _ was.  _ I’m supposed to be a witch - if I can’t even resist two idiots like them trying to hurt me, am I really any better than what they wrote on me? Maybe I  _ am  _ a Mudblood, through and through!” Hermione’s voice came out loudly again, echoing throughout the common room. 

“Don’t talk like that.” Lily’s hand curled around Hermione’s, nearly crushing it in her grasp. “You are not a Mudblood. You are a daughter of the House of Black, and moreover, you are  _ mine.  _ Never call yourself that again.”

“Yes, my Princess,” Hermione said in a meek voice, but then panic appeared to seize her again. “How are we going to hide it?”

“There are dilusionment charms, which shouldn’t be so hard to cast. Nobody expects to see anything other than normal skin, so that makes it easier. And Hermione… you’re mine. We’re not just going to hide it. I swear, we’ll get rid of it, whatever it takes,” Lily promised.

Tears sprung from Hermione’s eyes. “You’re doing so much for me, and I didn’t even know who you were before yesterday! I didn’t even think that someone who was  _ his  _ daughter could be anything like you!”

“Yeah, well, I’m special,” Lily said, remembering how she had turned Nova Prewett back from being a Dementor. “I care a lot more than average. And I especially care about people who are mine, like you, Hermione  _ Black.  _ How would you like to be mine officially?”

“You mean a Dark Mark like  _ Bellatrix  _ has?” Hermione’s eyes widened.

“Not that kind of mine. What I mean is, how would you like to be my girlfriend?” Lily asked, smiling.

“I…I of course,” Hermione beamed, and threw her arms around Lily’s neck. “Yes, yes, yes!”

“Good girl,” Lily said with a smile. “And people who are mine get  _ presents.  _ How would you like to be the one to kill one of your attackers?”

Hermione’s eyes widened again in shock, but she nodded. “I-I think I would like it.”


	25. Under My Protection

Lily instructed all of the members of the Inner Circle except for Eva and Silas to leave while she gave Hermione her present. Eva, knowing more Healing spells than Lily, was instructed to fix Hermione as best she could temporarily before they got her to a Healer. Ordinarily, Lily would’ve dragged a hurt Hermione to a Healer as soon as possible, but she had a feeling that she needed to take advantage of Hermione’s malleable state lest she change her mind about being a proper member of the Dark Side. There really would be no going back once Hermione killed Crabbe.

Once Hermione was temporarily healed, Lily instructed Eva and Silas to stand guard and watch Crabbe and Goyle, lest they decide to be horrible again, and helped Hermione stand up, a hand on her back. She didn’t  _ actually  _ think Hermione needed the physical support, but she wanted to be there, close with her, to give her emotional and magical support. Now that Hermione had officially accepted being Lily’s girlfriend, their magical bond was stronger, and it was easier for Lily to feed her bits of magic to play with. And play she would.

“Are you sure…. That this is okay?” Hermione asked in a tentative voice, drawing her wand.

“Of course it is. They wronged you, and they are disgrace to their families. In making such horrible mistakes, they have given all their rights up to the heads of the Dark Order. Their parents are Marked, so that’s how it works. They won’t be able to object when news of their sons’ tragic deaths show up. They’re mine… and I’m giving one of them to you so that you can learn how to properly torture an undeserving scum.” Lily reached around to squeeze one of Hermione’s developing breasts, prompting her to squeak. “Quiet, sweetheart,” Lily said, pressing a kiss to Hermione’s cheek. “We can do more of that  _ later.  _ Crabbe and Goyle really don’t deserve to hear the delightful noises you make when I touch you, do they?”

“N-no, my Princess,” Hermione answered, biting her lip. 

“Well then, go ahead. Choose your first curse. Whatever it is, I’m sure I’ll love it,” Lily whispered into Hermione’s ear, then stood back slightly, still keeping a hand on Hermione’s back.

“ _ Crucio! _ ” Hermione yelled, pointing her wand at Crabbe. Lily could feel the anger and horror at what the two boys had done radiating off Hermione, powering the torture curse and making it more powerful than the time she’d cast it on Montague. Crabbe screamed out in pain from Hermione’s particularly powerful curse, and after a few minutes his pain eventually turned to sobs as he started coughing up blood. A minute into the coughing, Hermione collapsed into Lily’s arms, and both of them fell onto the carpet of the Slytherin Common Room, which Eva thankfully thought to put a cushioning charm on before they hit. Leaving Silas to guard the very incapacitated Crabbe and his companion, Eva rushed over to Lily and Hermione to make sure that Hermione was okay.

“It really looks like Hermione has magically exerted herself, my Princess. My advice would be that you take her to a Healer,” Eva whispered.

“Not before Hermione proves to herself that she can take Crabbe down,” Lily hissed. She pointed her wand at her hand and made a small cut, spilling some of her blood and putting it on Hermione’s wand hand. “There. Enough power to finish him off. You can do it, Black,”

“I… can do it,” Hermione didn’t bother to stand up, and Lily didn’t bother to make her. It almost seemed bettter, her lazily curled up in her Princess’s arms while she made the kill shot.  _ “Avada Kedavra!”  _ she yelled, and then a blast of green light hit Crabbe in the chest, and he slumped over, the light fading out of his eyes. 

“Please, my Princess. We need to get her to a Healer,” Eva implored.

Lily sighed, knowing that even if she didn’t want her Hermione to ever need a Healer, she did tonight. “ _ Fine.  _ Silas, be a dear and clean this up for me and stick Goyle somewhere in the common room he won’t be found, won’t you?”

“Of course, my Princess,” Silas answered, and set off to cleaning the area. 

***

Thanks to Severus Snape’s new… lack of a personality, he barely questioned Lily at all when three students came barelling into his office demanding to use the Floo network instead of the usual one or two. A shadow of what would almost pass for regret crossed his face when he saw who the three girls were - one he had hurt and two who knew about what he’d done - but he made himself scarce as Lily and Eva used the Floo network to go to Malfoy Manor, carrying an unconscious Hermione. Unsure if the wards were still active, Lily had drawn a protective rune on Eva’s neck in her own blood, to ensure that the wards didn’t repel her.

They arrived in the sitting room, where both Narcissa and Lucius were present, looking more affectionate than usual - and Narcissa even seemed to be  _ liking  _ it this time. Lily smiled at her success, and then told Narcissa plainly, “We need your help. Unless your husband is a Healer, he can leave now.”

“Of course, my Princess,” Lucius nodded and left. 

“What’s wrong, Princess?” Narcissa asked, tentatively walking up to the three girls.

Lily quickly gave Narcissa the background on the situation. Her face turned to shocked and then distraught for a brief moment, but she covered it up and painted on a neutral expression. “Well, those boys are a disgrace to their families and to the Dark Order, I suppose,” she sighed. “I’ll… see what I can do. Is it alright if I…” she asked, reaching for Hermione.

Lily nodded.

Narcissa gave a brief nod and then conjured a stretcher, and Levitated Hermione’s barely-conscious body onto it. “I’ll take her into the same room where I treated you, that one time. Feel free to follow, of course, my Princess.”

Eva looked for a moment like she was contemplating not following as Narcissa started Levitating Hermione out of the sitting room, but Lily shook her head. “You have a mark of protection in my blood on your body. Act like it.”


	26. Connections

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW incest. Don't like, don't read.

Lily and Eva watched while Narcissa fussed over a barely-conscious Hermione, doing various magical tests to figure out what was wrong with her. Lily could tell that Eva was particularly nervous, which wasn’t really surprising, considering that she’d done a lot of amateur healing magic to fix Hermione. Of course, if Eva had fucked up significantly, the mark of protection on her forehead would be swiftly removed, but somehow Lily didn’t think Eva would have fucked up that badly. She’d proven many times before that she knew what she was doing, and she had no reason to harm Hermione after how clear Lily had made it that Hermione was  _ hers. _

Soon, Narcissa decided to sedate Hermione properly, so she could more easily work on non-surface level healing of the scar on her arm. As Hermione drifted off to sleep, Lily sat beside her bed, holding the hand that didn’t have a scarred arm. Anger seized through her as she imagined what it must have been like for Hermione, facing Crabbe and Goyle and being tortured.  _ Nobody  _ had the right to treat her girl like that.  _ Nobody.  _

Eva watched anxiously from a chair in the room as Narcissa worked on Hermione. The redness in Hermione’s eyes turned to the normal color, and soon it wasn’t swollen anymore, but Narcissa put her wand down with a sigh and lifted her eyes to look at Lily.

“What is it?” Lily asked, narrowing her eyes instinctively.

“My Princess… I’m afraid I won’t be able to completely heal this with what I know,” Narcissa answered, stuttering. 

“But you’re the Dark Side’s best Healer!” Lily exclaimed, standing up and glaring at Narcissa. “How can  _ you  _ not know?”

“Crabbe and Goyle… used a combination of spells to cut Hermione. I can deduce pretty well what spells they were, but I don’t know how to heal completely a cut caused by a combination of these four specific spells. I’ve done what I can, and she shouldn’t feel it…” Narcissa trailed off.

“But she’ll  _ see  _ it. And every day she’ll be reminded of what happened,” Lily hissed, clutching Hermione’s hand protectively.

“And every day, My Princess, she’ll be reminded of how you saved her, let her kill one of the people who hurt her, and destroyed the other. And… if I may speak freely?” Eva asked, making eye contact with Lily.

“She will also, my Princess, be intimately aware of the worst assumptions people could make about her because of her blood status, and likely be extra devoted to making sure that they do  _ not  _ make these assumptions. I… don’t like how it happened, my Princess, but this will undoubtedly be a powerful motivation for Hermione to make sure that she does not fulfill the word on her arm,” After speaking, Eva looked down at her robes, and Lily could tell that she was nervous. 

The anger inside Lily at Crabbe and Goyle lowered to a simmer, and she sighed. “I suppose you’re right, Eva. And I suppose a little extra motivation won’t be amiss to ensure that my Muggleborn, Gryffindor-sorted girlfriend doesn’t become a light fucker.”

Narcissa’s eyebrows arched in shock, and Lily watched as realization descended on her face. 

“But while that is good… Narcissa, what are you going to do about making sure that this is eventually  _ fixed?  _ She is my  _ girlfriend,  _ and if she eventually becomes my wife she cannot have that mark on her.” Lily hissed.

“Of course, my Princess,” Narcissa acknowledged, bowing her head slightly. “I will do my utmost to make sure that I and the other Healers work to figure out a cure for this… issue. I… perhaps you could speak with your father at some point to inform him of the issue and that we are working on a solution? It would also be wonderful, my Princess, if you could recover the information from Crabbe or Goyle exactly what spells were used, and in which order.”

“Of course, Narcissa, I’m sure I can use Legilimency on Goyle to figure out what spells were cast,” Lily answered confidently. Narcissa looked at Lily with a slightly raised eyebrow, but did not comment on the fact that she’d mentioned only one name. 

“Now that I know you will be working on the issue, I will go speak with my father and inform him of the night’s events,” Lily told Narcissa and Eva. “Make sure that she remains at least resonably calm when she wakes up,” she instructed Narcissa.

“Of course, my Princess,” was Narcissa’s response.

 

***

Lily used the Floo gate in Malfoy Manor to go to her father’s house. She walked down the hallway to his office, but didn’t find him. Focusing on her scar, she let her magic explore the mansion in an effort to find him. Soon, she had the sense that her magic was pushing her in a specific direction. She let it guide her, and found herself standing in front of the door to his bedroom. Timidly, she reached up to knock on the door.

“Come in, dear,” her father called. Heart beating fast, worried that her father might dissaprove of her killing  _ two  _ different Pureblood Slytherins, she walked into the room, where he was sitting on the bed. She looked around the room, looking for a chair or someplace to sit.

“Feel free to sit with me,” her father said, sitting up in bed.

Biting her lip, Lily walked over to the bed, discarded her shoes, and sat down.

“You’re worried,” he observed. “I’m not upset with you. I think you did brilliantly.”

Lily smiled, a blush coloring her cheeks. “Even… even with Hermione?”

“Especially with Hermione. Anyone can kill, but the way you got her on our side?” Her father beamed, taking her face in his hand. “That’s my daughter.”

Lily could swear her heart skipped a beat as she looked in his eyes. Sitting in such close quarters, and feeling his magic surround her, she was absolutely certain that he’d been there, in some capacity, the night before, when she’d spoken to Tom. “You were there,” she whispered.

“I was,” he answered, smiling. “Sweetheart, I’ll never be far away if you need me.”

Lily’s face lit up with a smile, and then her heart started beating fast again as she realized what that might mean. Tom had wanted her, and she’d had sex with him, did that mean…

“I could feel what he wanted,” her father told her, in a low voice. “And I wanted you too.”

Lily beamed. “Really?” Doing things with Tom was nice, but he was only a shadow of his future self, and… he  _ was  _ trapped in a book, for the most part. 

“I did. But I shouldn’t… and I shouldn’t be talking to you here… but sometimes it hurts, being this alone,” her father said, and Lily could feel her magic almost whine as he turned away slightly, and a tiny flame of anger started stirring inside her.  _ Tom,  _ part of his  _ soul,  _ had made the choice to have sex with her. And she’d agreed. It had formed a bond. A bond that the main part of her father was now trying to deny. How dare he?

Later, Lily wasn’t sure if she would’ve done what she did without her magic - or perhaps without Magic herself - guiding her. She pushed her body up against her father’s and put a hand on his face, turning him fully towards her, and pounced, entwining her fingers in his hair. He made a surprised sound in the back of his throat that repeated a moment later as a sound of passion came instead and he grabbed her waist, pulling her towards him. 

A few moments later, they separated, both breathless. Lily nuzzled up against him, feeling warm and buzzy and  _ right.  _ “Make me yours,” she pleaded.

“Not tonight, dear,” her father said, putting a hand on her forehead. It seemed to calm her restless magic, and her heart stopped beating so fast. “Let’s just sleep.”

So, for the second night in a row, Lily curled up into her father’s chest, and fell asleep.


	27. An Unorthodox Use of Time Turners

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "He was the Dark Lord, so powerful, and by some prophecies, either meant to kill her or be killed by her. But they had chosen their own fate. They had refused to let their connection be corrupted."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Incest TW again. I guess my characters are really horny. Honestly, if that bothers you, why are you still reading this fic?

That morning, when Lily woke up, she felt the safest that she had pretty much ever. The blissful peace only lasted for a moment, however, because when she looked at the clock on the bedside table, it read 7AM.

Instinctively, she cursed, and looked around for her shoes. It was a Saturday, so she was at the very least not going to be missing any classes, but… her being missing when two students had recently been murdered would arouse suspicion that she’d either been the killer or was the killer’s next victim.

“What’s going on, dear?” her father asked, an eyebrow raised in concern. He was sitting on the other side of the large bed, reading a book.

“I’ve been missing for the whole night!” Lily said in a panicked voice. 

A devious smile appeared on her father’s face, and he dangled a small necklace in front of her face. “Not with this you haven’t been.”

Lily’s eyes went wide, and she reached out for the necklace. Her father held it back from her, making a  _ tsk  _ noise. Lily looked at him in confusion.

“It’s a Time Turner. But you can’t  _ just  _ grab it and use it. There are rules. You’re not allowed to let your self from last night see you, and you can’t make big changes. You also can’t get caught,”

Lily nodded, but her father still held the Time Turner up, slightly out of her reach.

“Is there something else?” she asked.

“Well.” Her father smirked. “My dear, I know that you’re used to taking control with our Death Eaters, and Tom, and our followers at Hogwarts. But the rules are a little different with me.”

Lily felt shame rush through her body, remembering her behavior last night and how she’d been the one to initiate things. Kissing him had felt right, but the way she’d done it  _ had  _ felt a little wrong.

“I’m sorry,” she said in a quiet voice.

“Now the question is,” he said, “do you still want me back?” His fingers traced a pattern on her wrist, and their mere presence, along with the influence of his magic surrounding her, made it hard for Lily to breathe and made her want him. 

Nothing else felt right as an answer other than, “Yes, My Lord.” 

“Good girl,” he said in a silky-smooth voice, and a moment later, he was crashing his lips against hers, pushing her back onto the bed. His tongue probed against her lips, and she parted them, having the feeling that whatever happened this morning would be more intense than what had happened last night. Last night… she had asked for him to claim her, and he’d said no. What changed?

_ I realized that I am the Lord Champion, and that if you want me there is no reason for me to say no, _ her father said, speaking directly into her mind. Her magic seemed to seize onto his words, pulling them and his magic closer to hers. Lily felt almost self-conscious and uncomfortable upon realizing that she was wearing her entire Hogwarts uniform, and her father was also dressed. 

“Take it off me?” she whispered, lips against his, knowing that he would know what she was referring to. 

“Gladly,” His lips moved away from hers, and without entirely meaning to, Lily let out a breathless moan at the lack of attention. 

Her father smirked, and a second later it seemed that his hands were running all over her, and her clothing was floating off of her and folding itself neatly on a chair in the bedroom. Then, all of the hands and phantom hands left, and she was left more or less posing for him on the bed while he slowly and without magic took off his own clothes. “Please,” she whispered. She knew he was doing  _ something  _ magical, and she was pretty sure it was a contraceptive spell.

He smiled at her over his shoulder, encouragingly. “Please what? I want to hear you say it.”

“Please fuck me,” she answered. It felt a little similar to the way Tom had played with her the first time they’d had sex, but this… actually felt safe. Not like she was playing some strange balancing game that she wasn’t sure how to win. And  _ certainly  _ not like she was being pushed into things, like Snape had done with her. 

“Of course I will, sweetheart. You know I love it when you ask nicely,” Lily felt her skin tingle in anticipation as her father approached the bed, completely naked. She looked at him, a little in awe. He was the  _ Dark Lord,  _ so powerful, and by some prophecies, either meant to kill her or be killed by her. But they had chosen their own fate. They had refused to let their connection be corrupted. 

On the bed now, he put one hand on the back of Lily’s neck and another on her waist. “Do you think you’ll need some help staying still?” he asked, eyes sparkling. 

“Not if you’re the one who wants me to be,” she answered, smiling up at him. 

“You’re a charmer,” He smiled, and then kissed her briefly. “I like it,” 

“Yours…” Lily said, exhaling a little. 

Sensation filled her body as her father entered her, slowly at first but when it became clear that she wanted him, faster. His nails made slight indentations on her waist and neck, and she cried out as he pushed against her again and again, She closed her eyes, letting the sensation of him filling her and his magic surrounding her wash over her, and responded in kind, moving her hips up to meet him and curling her legs around him. She knew it was taboo - hell, she knew Hermione might not approve - but it felt right, as he came inside her. 

Too soon, he pulled out, and in response to her moan hooked a finger inside her to replace what had left and started rubbing her clit with the pad of his thumb. Her moans reached a fever pitch, and she wanted to thrash around, but she remembered what she’d said about not needing help staying still and willed her body to let him do what they both wanted. Soon, she came, coating his fingers with a sticky substance.

“May I?” he asked, lifting his fingers up to his mouth. She nodded eagerly. He sucked at his fingers, and Lily squirmed at the sight, loving how much he seemed to love the taste. He laid back down next to her, pulling his face towards her, and kissed her again, then deposited the Time Turner in her hands.

“Use it well,” he said with a wink.


	28. I'll Take it From Here

Lily felt like she was walking on a cloud as she walked out of Snape’s office and towards the dungeons. A House Elf had sent her a memo informing her that Hermione had been taken to Lily’s bedroom in the Slytherin common room, after she’d woken up and been calmed down a little by Narcissa and Eva. Lily was more glad than ever that she’d used the Time Turner when she crept into her bedroom in the Slytherin dormitories at 4am and saw Hermione sleeping in her bed, but splayed out awkwardly and with all the blankets kicked off her. Thankfully, there was no risk of meeting her other self, because she was sound asleep in her father’s bed. Lily smirked as she remembered what had happened… or well, would be happening… in a few hours. If only she could watch. 

“Lily?” Hermione said, half asleep and reaching out for her Princess.

“I’m here,” Lily smiled at her and folded Hermione into her arms, holding her tightly. “You’re safe.”

“They… she said it won’t go away until they find a way to fix it,” Hermione, more awake, half spoke and half-sobbed at Lily.

“Well then, you’ll just have to prove to everyone that it’s nothing but a ridiculous tattoo, right?” Lily reassured Hermione, squeezing her. “Besides, there are glamours. Nobody  _ expects  _ you to be walking around with the word Mudblood on your arm.”

“Am I one?” Hermione asked, her eyes piercing Lily’s. “You can tell me the truth.”

Lily vehemently shook her head, and took Hermione’s face in her hands. “You are not a Mudblood, Hermione. That’s not even a word that can be applied to someone until they’re seventeen years old and haven’t Presented themselves to Magic. And you’re certainly not on the path to being one. You’re  _ mine.” _

Hermione’s eyes widened as she realized that she hadn’t been Presented yet. “The ritual talked about in Lady Magic’s Chosen. I haven’t even done it yet.” She tentatively looked at Lily. “You… called me Hermione Black. Can I be?  _ Am  _ I?”

“Most definitely, once you’ve done your Presentation. You can present yourself, or be presented as, Hermione Black, and in the eyes of Magic and everyone who  _ truly  _ follows Her you will be a Black, and it won’t matter that you’re descended from a Squib. I believe in you. You can do it.” Lily reassured her.

“It said it can backfire,” Hermione countered.

“Yeah, only if someone is doing it for the wrong reasons,” Lily said, scoffing. “Like if… I don’t know, Snape abducted me from my parents and tried to present me so he could have me more under control for abusing me. Or if someone doesn’t even believe in Magic as an entity and is doing it as a joke. Trust me. I’m Her Princess. She is  _ not  _ going to reject you,” 

Lily drew Hermione closer for a kiss, which she immediately responded to, smiling against her lips. “Okay.”

***

Thankfully, two hours later, when Lily and Hermione entered the Gryffindor common room, the only person who was up was Percy, who pulled them aside and said he’d told the rest of the Gryffindors that they’d gone to spend time with Ginny in Slytherin.

“Thank you for acting proactively,” Lily told him.

“Of course, my Princess.” Percy acknowledged her response with a slight bow, which made Hermione’s eyes go wide. “Does he…”

“Know I’m the Dark Princess? Yeah. It’s a long story,” Lily said with a laugh. “Now, let’s get back to the dorm.”

Parvati was awake when they entered the dorm. “How’s Ginny doing?” she asked.

“Homesick, but she’ll be okay,” Lily answered, slipping into her bed and not letting it show that she hadn’t been with Ginny.

“I’d imagine she’d be pretty upset…” Parvati speculated. “I mean, what with a member of her House dying and all. One person dying, and a mysterious comment about the enemies of the heir… who will be next?”

“Let’s not assume there will be any more deaths, Patil,” Lily said sharply, looking at her. “After all, Dumbledore’s going to be able to fix it, right?”

“R-right,” Parvati said, doubtful.

***

The next morning, news spread quickly about the death of Crabbe once everyone had woken up. Silas had positioned his body as if it had been thrown off the Astronomy Tower, just like Lily had instructed him to once she’d gotten back to Slytherin. Hogwarts was even more quiet than it had been after the first death, and since it was a weekend, the students were only permitted to be in the library or their dorms without supervision from professors. Thankfully, Lily had her Invisibility Cloak in her bag, and Goyle had been instructed to go to the library.

Goyle stood in one of the many stacks of the library, looking dumbly at the books like he didn’t understand why anyone could need so many. Lily cast the silencing charm on him, and then threw the Invisibility Cloak over them both.

Goyle looked absolutely terrified as Lily dragged him through the library entrance to the Chamber of Secrets, and as they walked down the stairs that entered the left side of the Chamber.

There was a sense of anticipation in the air, and Lily could tell that the Chamber was eager to claim another victim. But first, she needed to know what spells he’d used.

“Speak,” She prodded him with her wand, and he winced at the contact. “Tell me what spells you used, and in what order.”

Goyle, absolutely terrified, told her the list of spells, and with Legilimency she quickly confirmed that his list was accurate. “That’s vaguely impressive for a blood traitor,” she said in a contemplative voice. 

Goyle’s eyes lit up, and he instinctively bowed to her. “Thank you, My Princess. Does this mean that you will spare me?”

Lily’s eyes narrowed into slits as she looked at him. “Are you really as ignorant and traitorous as to think I will forgive your assault on my girlfriend because you were good at cursing her? No.”

Anger boiling in her veins, Lily did something she hadn’t done yet - called for the Basilisk in the Chamber. “ _ Kill him,”  _ she said, hissing the words in Parseltongue. 

There was a stirring from the walls of the chamber, and out of the mouth came the Basilisk. Goyle’s eyes widened in horror, and he started running. Lily laughed, knowing he wouldn’t find a way out - the doors of the Chamber were shut, and the stairs they’d entered through turned into a huge stone column. Slytherin’s Basilisk slithered towards Goyle, and bit him. Lily smiled as the blood from his fatal wound dripped into the water. She was so lost in the moment that she didn’t even notice the figure who had appeared next to Goyle’s dead body.

But when she looked at him, she knew in her heart and with her magic who it was. Salazar Slytherin.

“Good job, Little Princess,” he said, smirking. “But I’ll take it from here.” 


	29. Unity

Lily instinctively drew her wand, staring down the intruder in the Chamber that she had begun to think of as _hers._ She had Tom’s diary in her robes, too, but she wanted to able to fight him on her own. “What are you doing?” she demanded.

“I think it’s obvious,” Salazar Slytherin laughed. “You’ve done an admirable job, but you’re young… I, on the other hand, have been able to see through the eyes of my Basilisk as she travels through the walls of Hogwarts. I have not been alone since I created my Horcrux, unlike your father was. I am the greatest Dark Wizard who ever lived, and I…”

“Sure,” Lily responded in a dry voice, pointing her wand at him and nonverbally wrapping him in ropes of fire.

Unfortunately, he threw them off, causing them to rickochet off the edge of the chamber, land on Goyle’s body, and make what looked somewhat like a funeral pyre. “I really do admire your dedication. But the only reason you have access to this chamber is because you are a Horcrux of the Dark Lord.” Slytherin circled her as Lily watched him with doubtful eyes.

“And you’re… what, a Horcrux but somehow superior? You’re at best half a soul. I’m a whole soul, plus more,” Lily hissed. “And I am Magic’s chosen Princess.”

“I may be half a soul, but I’m not a half-blood,” He glared at her. “Is this really how far my line has fallen? The current head coming from inbreeding and breeding with  _ Muggles,  _ and adopting the daughter of a Mudblood and a member of a House that is only pureblood in name? And your father trying to share his power with another half-blood, that McGonnagal? The head of  _ Gryffindor? _ ”

“Don’t call my mother a mudblood!” Lily hissed. “ _ Crucio!”  _ A bolt of red light emerged from her wand, but Slytherin dodged it, causing her curse to hit one of the pillars of the Chamber instead.

“You little  _ bitch! _ ” A new fury rose in Slytherin’s eyes upon seeing how Lily’s curse had impacted his precious Chamber. “How dare you!” His eyes searched for the Basilisk, and he called out to her in Parseltongue, “Serpent of Slytherin, attack!”

“You’re really going to let your Basilisk attack someone in your own bloodline?” Lily scoffed. She had no power to hold him off magically, that had already been demonstrated, so she figured all she could do was convince him that he didn’t want to hurt her.

“My own bloodline? You barely count. You’re more Peverell than you are Slytherin,” Salazar Slytherin hissed, using a blast of magic to throw her against the wall of the Chamber. “Although, I do have to thank you for doing what your useless father never could. Three murders committed in my name, of those who were eschewing the uses of the magic in their blood blood passed down from their ancestors…”

Lily shivered as she looked at Salazar Slytherin, smirking at her. Her father hadn’t known what he was ordering her to do. Was this going to be the undoing of everything they had worked for?

“Oh, no it won’t be,” Salazar Slytherin’s manaical laughter filled the Chamber as he looked at her with predatory eyes and his Basilisk twisted herself around her. “Don’t be afraid, so-called Princess… What was that that you said about the new Dark Order? Ah yes… it’ll be wonderful, and there won’t be any room for blood traitors in it. And I’m afraid, little princess, you count in my definition.”

“If the Dark Princess counts as a blood traitor in your definition, you won’t have anyone to follow you,” came Hermione’s voice from the walkway of the Chamber. The Slytherin Serpent loosened her grip on Lily a bit as she looked towards the strange intruder. 

“What are you doing in my chamber, Mudblood?” Salazar Slytherin bellowed, glaring at Hermione. Like her master’s, the serpent’s attention seemed to be turned away from Hermione as he stared her down.

“I’m here for Lily. Not for you, whoever you are,” Hermione scoffed. “And don’t call me a Mudblood. I’m  _ not.”  _ Hermione looked at Lily. “Who is he? Is he your father?”

Lily almost laughed at the absurdity of the situation. “Salazar Slytherin. And he thinks both of us, and also my father, are unworthy wixen.”

Hermione’s eyes widened. “Don’t worry, we can beat him.” 

“You? Beat  _ me?  _ You’re nothing but a pair of second years.” Slytherin scoffed.

“Don’t understimate the ability of Magic to support Her chosen when they are in need,” came another voice, and Lily’s head swirled around to see her father - or at least a smoky version of him - standing next to Tom’s diary, which had fallen out of her robes when the Basilisk had stopped squeezing her. She couldn’t feel the usual energy radiating from the diary, meaning that the figure standing between her and Salazar Slytherin must be some kind of combination of Tom and her father.

“Oh, how sweet,” Salazar Slytherin faux-cooed. “A family of blood traitors, all standing against the future Lord Champion of Magic. This won’t work, you know.”

“ _ Future Lord Champion of Magic?  _ I used to admire you, but you are nothing more than an entitled, bigoted -” Lily’s father didn’t manage to complete his sentence, as a phoenix flew into the Chamber, carrying the Sorting Hat and shocking all four indiviuals.

“Fawkes?” Hermione asked, eyes wide. “He’s  _ Dumbledore’s!  _ We need to kill him!”

“Fawkes may have alleigance to Albus Dumbledore, but he wouldn’t be here just to kill us. Phoenixes don’t do that. They are among the purest of magical beings,” Lily’s father responded in a measured voice. Lily could tell that he was trying not to succum to the anxiety that was coursing through him upon seeing Dumbledore’s familiar.

“Oh, he’s probably here to convince you that you’re good deep down and can turn into a Light wizard if you just do everything he wants,” Salazar Slytherin said in a bored voice, and then called to the Basilisk in Parseltongue. “Come, Slytherin Serpent. These four can do a fine job of destroying each other… we don’t need to dirty our hands.”

Obediently, the Basilisk completely unwrapped from around Lily, and slid back into the hole in Slytherin’s statue. Slytherin sat down on the floor of the chamber, clearly expecting some sort of show.  Fawkes simply stood next to the Sorting Hat on the chamber floor, looking at Lily with piercing eyes.

“What do you… do you want me to…?” Fawkes nodded, seemingly reading Lily’s mind. She walked towards the hat and picked it up, finding that it was much heavier than she expected it to be. There was something inside, but try as she might, she couldn’t retrieve it. 

_ Sword of Gryffindor,  _ came a voice inside her head, from the phoenix. 

“I… I can’t,” Lily stuttered, stepping back from the hat as tears started falling down from her eyes.

“She’s testing you,” scoffed Salazar Slytherin. “You’ve proved that you’re not a true Gryffindor. You’re not a Gryffindor, and you’re certainly not a Slytherin, so what does that make you, Lily  _ Potter? _ ”

Lily ignored Salazar Slytherin’s taunts aside from his “true Gryffindor” comment, and turned to Hermione. “True Gryffindor… you’ve got to fit that,”

Hermione nodded eagerly, and stepped towards the Hat, fishing around inside for the Sword. She managed to grab its hilt, but as hard as she tried, she couldn’t pull it out of the hat. Salazar Slytherin looked like he was watching an entertaining Muggle TV show.

“I suppose I’ll have to try, then,” Lily’s father said with a shrug, and attempted to fish the sword out of the hat. He had about as much success as Lily had.

Hermione’s eyes flickered with fear as she looked at Lily and her father. “We’re not going to be able to defeat him without it, are we?”

A sound of slow clapping came from the other side of the Chamber, and Lily saw Salazar Slytherin smirking. “Well done. You’ve dissapointed the collective consciousness of  _ all  _ of the Founders. How does that feel?”

“The collective consciousness of all of the Founders…” Hermione’s eyes lit up, and she looked at Voldemort with a question in her eyes. He nodded, and together, they both grabbed the hilt of the Sword of Gryffindor and pulled.

Lily watched with wide eyes as the Sword emerged from the Hat amidst a swirl of golden sparks. “The Hat has always wanted Slytherin and Gryffindor to end its fighting, has it not?” Lily’s father asked with a soft smile. 

“And Fawkes thought… that I was equally Gryffindor and Slytherin and could end it alone?” Lily asked, raising an eyebrow.

On the other side of the chamber, Salazar Slytherin had gone pale. “ _ No…”  _ Lily could hear him muttering.

“Oh yes, Salazar,” Voldemort smiled, and holding the Sword of Gryffindor, called in Parseltongue, “Slytherin Serpent… come to me.”

The Basilisk again started approaching him, obedient but reluctant. She placed her head on the floor of the Chamber. “With me,” Voldemort said quietly to Hermione, and together, they pushed the sword through the neck of the Basilisk, killing her. 

A cry of sorrow came from Salazar Slytherin as Voldemort, no longer holding the sword with Hermione, pulled it from the Basilisk’s neck. “Well, Salazar? I’ve killed your precious pet. And all good wizards know Basilisk venom can destroy a Horcrux… which I happen to have plenty of on the blade of this useful sword. Any last words?”

“M-my Lord,” Salazar Slytherin whimpered, putting his hands on the floor in submission to Voldemort, “please spare me… I know Hogwarts better than any living individual does… the ghosts won’t cooperate with you, and they can’t be harmed by the Cruciatus Curse… please let me survive so I may live to serve your Dark Order.”   
Voldemort smiled. “Wisely spoken.” He let the Sword of Gryffindor clatter to the floor, which Hermione immediately leaped for, gazing at it in awe. “But in order to let you live, Salazar, you must first make an Unbreakable Vow.”

“What’s an Unbreakable Vow?” Hermione whispered to Lily, as Voldemort led Salazar Slytherin through it.

“If you break it, Magic kills you,” Lily whispered back, and watched in awe as her father made Salazar Slytherin swear a vow that ensured his loyalty. At the conclusion of the vow, he pressed the tip of his finger to Slytherin’s forearm, and a Dark Mark started blossoming on his pale skin as he screamed in agony.

“So maybe I’m glad being yours doesn’t mean getting a Dark Mark,” Hermione whispered, as Lily smiled.


	30. Being Me Has Its Privileges

“Miss Potter,” said a vaguely amused Albus Dumbledore as Lily, Hermione and McGonnagal sat in his office. “You seem to keep on finding trouble, don’t you?”

“With all due respect, Headmaster, trouble seems to keep on finding me…” Lily answered, in as calm a voice as she could maintain. “Hermione and I didn’t ask for Goyle to drag us down to the Chamber. I think he just wanted to kill the Girl Who Lived, and the most proficient Muggle-born witch in his year,”

“Yes, yes,” Dumbledore stroked his beard, looking over at Fawkes. “It is truly fortunate that you managed to pull the Sword of Gryffindor from the Sorting Hat together. I’d never heard of that before… then again, I had never heard of the Sword of Gryffindor giving its alleigance to anyone but its maker. I suppose it is rightfully yours and Miss Granger’s, now.”

“We can put it in the Potter Gringotts Vault?” Lily asked, looking between herself and Hermione.

“Since you are-” Dumbledore sounded like he was trying to protest, but McGonnagal looked at the girls with a smile.

“Of course. The goblins of Gringotts will keep it safe there, and you girls have my blessing as Head of Gryffindor to legally own the sword.”

Dumbledore’s mouth turned down into a line, and with what sound like practiced neutrality, he responded to McGonnagal’s statement. “Well then, it appears the matter is settled of who will keep the Sword. Now, I suppose the remaining question is whether Goyle was behind all of the attacks.”

“I mean, of course he would kill the son of a renegade Parkinson!” Hermione burst out. “And he…”

“Always had quite the rivalry with Crabbe, Ginny told me. He was the son of a dark wizard, rivalry can easily turn more horrible than anyone on the Light Side would ever anticipate,” Lily cut off Hermione, finishing her sentence and holding her hand under the desk. She knew she’d been intending to talk about the cut, but there was no way she could justify it being so healed already without talking about  _ who  _ had healed it or what “dark” methods she had used.

“Well, thank you for the information, girls. I suspect we will need to have Professor Snape talk to the members of Slytherin House, to see if they have any additional information. Meanwhile, we need to figure out who can go with Miss Potter to Gringotts, as the Potter vault won’t open without her,” McGonnagall said in a businesslike voice.

“I will, Minerva,” Dumbledore responded, giving her a small smile. “I believe Miss Potter and I have much to discuss, with regards to your suggestion from a few weeks back.”

“Respectfully, Albus, but… alone?” McGonnagall asked, raising an eyebrow. 

“I’m sure Miss Potter is comfortable with it. We can even take Fawkes. It’s perfectly alright, isn’t it, Miss Potter?” Dumbledore asked, looking at Lily, his eyes feeling like they were boring into her soul.

“S-sure,” Lily said. There was no way she could actually objecting to spending time alone with Hogwarts’ headmaster without revealing who she was. Besides, she wouldn’t be really alone - she had Tom. “Can I use the bathroom first, though?”

“Of course,” Dumbledore answered, nodding, and Lily stood up.

“I need to go, too. I’ll just go with her,” Hermione added, also standing up.

“Oh. I don’t want to make you hold it, so I guess we’ll just go to the bathroom near your office. Hermione can go back to her dorm and you and I can go to Gringotts?” Lily asked, shrugging.

“Sure,” Dumbledore said, dismissing them with a hand wave, although he didn’t look particularly happy about it.

“So he  _ does  _ have some sort of monitoring spell on the bathroom of his office,” Hermione commented, once they were finally alone.

“I mean, are we surprised?” Lily said with a sigh, digging out Tom’s diary from her robes. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he had monitoring spells  _ anywhere  _ in particular. This is his school, and he’s a control freak, after all. I’d just be surprised if he had monitoring spells  _ everywhere _ , because it’d be pretty hard to do that.”

“Great,” Hermione sighed. “So… what are you going to do with him probably interrogating you?”

“Let my dad help?” Lily said with a small smile.

“Wait, what?”

“Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you,” Lily clarified. “He can hang out in my brain and help pilot

my body sometimes. Well, his diary Horcrux can.” 

“Wait,  _ what _ ?” Hermione asked, shocked, as there was a knock on the bathroom door.

“Girls? I’m on a rather tight schedule…” Lily heard an annoyed Albus Dumbledore say.

Damn it. “I’ll tell you later,” Lily said, then finished washing her hands and walked out of the bathroom.

***

“Thank you for explaining the situation to me and allowing me to take you to Diagon Alley, Miss Potter,” Dumbledore said as they walked down the cooridor. He extended an arm to her. “Would you care to Aparate off the grounds with me?”

“I didn’t know you could do that,” lied Lily as she took his arm. “Can I do it even if I’ve never Aparated before?”

“Well, being me has its privileges,” Dumbledore said with a smile as she took his arm. “And I would presume you’ve never Aparated before… which is why Side-Along Aparation exists. It allows of-age wizards to transport up to three others somewhere.”

Lily nodded, and soon they were being sucked into a vortex, and deposited on the streets of Diagon Alley, right near Gringotts. Lily wobbled a bit on her feet for show. “Why couldn’t we just go directly inside Gringotts?”

“Even I have not been given that level of access by the goblins,” Dumbledore said with a smile. Lily, managing to “regain her footing”, took her hand off of Dumbledore’s arm. 

“To the Potter vault it is, then,” he commented. “And after we have put away the Sword of Gryffindor, you and I shall have to talk about something that has been weighing on my mind.”

 


	31. The Deathly Hallows

Lily was still amazed by the vastness of Gringotts as the goblin employee took her and Dumbledore down into the depths of the bank. When they reached Vault 687, Lily took the sword with her as the godlin walked ahead of her to open the vault. Lily felt pressure from both the slight burning sensation the sword was giving her and the goblin as his eyes trailed her while she put the sword in the vault.

The rest of the ride was silent, and Lily didn’t know why the goblin was glaring at her and Dumbledore so harshly. Eventually, they left the claustrophobic bank.

“Why was the goblin so mad at us?” Lily asked Dumbledore, once they were sitting in Rosa Lee Teabag, looking over the menu for tea.

“Goblins think that anything they make belongs to them. They must think you’re rather ignorant, putting an object made by one of them in a vault guarded by them,” Dumbledore commented, then put down his menu. “Whenever you’re ready, I know what I’m ordering.”

“But… it was made a thousand years ago, or something like that? Wouldn’t the goblin

who made it be dead by now?” Lily asked, then impulsively chose what she wanted to order and closed the menu.

“Yes, he is dead, but it is likely he has ancestors. Honestly, Miss Potter, I’m not sure why Minerva suggested you keep it in the vault. As soon as they manage to contact the individual who is due to “inherit” the sword, it’ll be stolen from your vault. Perhaps along with quite a lot of gold,” One of the employees of the tea shop walked up behind Dumbledore, and he turned to her with a smile. “Lemon tea and a biscuit, please.”

“And you, miss?” the server asked, smiling at Lily.

Eternally relieved to  _ not  _ be heralded as the Girl Who Lived, Lily smiled back at the server. “Elderflower tea and a chocolate croissant, please.”

“Of course, miss,” the server said, then returned to the back of the shop.

“Elderflower?” Dumbledore asked, raising an eyebrow. “Have you tried it before?”

“No, it just sounded interesting,” Lily said, shrinking back from his gaze. She could tell, thanks to her lessons with Legilimency and Occlumency, that he was rifling through her mind and trying to figure out if she was lying. She more or less let him.

“What’s wrong with elder?” she asked. 

“Nothing’s wrong with it,” He smiled. “In fact, my wand is made of elder. I merely thought it curious that you were so immediately attracted to elder tea. Would you like to see how you react to the wand itself?”

“Sure…” Lily responded, sure that it would be a test but not sure how to pass it other than by going along with it.

Dumbledore withdrew his wand from his robes, and placed it on the table. Lily looked at the wand, which seemed to ooze ancient magic that it didn’t look like Dumbledore was even aware of. It was long, with decorations on it that looked like elderberries. Lily picked up the wand, and could feel it hum with happiness in her hand as magic swirled around her. Dumbledore watched her intently, although she didn’t think he could see what was going on. She felt a similar impulse to the one she’d had in the Chamber after killing Montague - it almost felt like the wand was telling her to kill Dumbledore and take it for herself. Pushing the thoughts of that away, she put it back down on the table and removed her hand.

The server, returning with their crossaint and biscuit, stumbled as she saw the wand laid out on the table, and the plates in her hand slipped and started falling to the ground. With a will that wasn’t entirely her own, Lily darted her hand out and cast  _ “Wingardium Leviosa!”  _ at the plates, gently floating them over to the table. She barely noticed what she’d done until the server turned as white as a sheet and ran back to the kitchen, and Dumbledore looked at her with a raised eyebrow. She immediately put the wand back down on the table and buisied herself with eating her croissant.

“Impressive,” Dumbledore commented, paying very little attention to his biscuit. “It’s not typically easy for individuals to use that wand… tell me, Miss Potter, do you remember your parents’ deaths?”

Lily could feel her heart skip a beat as Dumbledore stared at her. She didn’t want to think about the death that had lead to her living with the Dursleys for ten years, but unbidden, a memory made its way into her mind - of a flash of green light and a woman screaming. She gave a small nod.

“Did you see the thestrals pulling the carriages this year?” Dumbledore probed further.

Frozen, Lily shook her head.

“Fascinating,” Dumbledore said, pocketing the wand. Lily could feel her magic reach out, yearning to hold the wand again. “I suppose you saw the reality of death in the Chamber when the Basilisk killed Gregory Goyle, then… and when you and Miss Granger killed the Basilisk in turn.”

Lily gave another small nod. “What does that wand have to do with death?”

“A good question. That wand is the Elder Wand, one of the rumored three Deathly Hallows. You can find the mythological story of ‘The Tale of the Three Brothers’ in The Tales of Beetle the Bard, but the true answer to the origin of that wand is that it was created by Antioch Peverell, the eldest brother of your distant ancestor, Ignotus Peverell. I earned this wand by defeating Grindelwald in 1945; it is in theory the most powerful and sentient of all wands. Your Invisibility Cloak is another of the Hallows, passed down through the generations of the Peverell turned Potter family,” Dumbledore explained

Everything in Lily screamed that what he was saying was  _ wrong,  _ that three brothers hadn’t created such powerful magical artefacts on their own. But she nodded and played along, hoping to learn as much as she could about the Hallows. “What about the third Hallow?”

Dumbledore’s face turned down. “I think you’ve asked quite enough questions, Miss Potter. It’s time  _ I  _ get some answers.  _ Legilimens! _ ”

 


	32. The Girl Without the Scar

Lily shuddered as she felt Dumbledore’s magic penetrate her mind. She could tell that the Elder Wand was doing the best it could to resist, but she could also tell that it was tired of resisting and Dumbledore’s magic was strong. She grabbed the Horcrux in her pocket tightly, digging her nails into the cover of the book but not daring to verbally ask for help in her mind.

A few seconds later, Tom was in her mind, more or less sitting down in front of her and preventing Dumbledore from getting what he wanted. Lily was pretty sure that all Dumbledore had gotten was  _ confusion  _ and a feigned sense of betrayal when he’d Legilimensed her, but she couldn’t be positive.

“You could just  _ ask me questions,  _ you know,” Lily said through gritted teeth, trying to make it seem like she was being hurt by the unwanted probing into her mind. She certainly  _ would’ve  _ been if she hadn’t had Tom to protect her. 

“But this catches two Golden Snidgets at once,” Dumbledore said, chuckling, and Lily could see the darkness behind his eyes that he usually tried so hard to hide. “I need information, and you need to learn Occlumency. So, Miss Potter,” He smiled at her. “What are your  _ actual  _ thoughts on the death of your parents?”

“I  _ miss  _ them, you arsehole!” Lily spat out, which wasn’t exactly innacurate, as she tried to project the “right” emotions with the assistance of Tom. “And right now, I’m really  _ pissed  _ that Voldemort killed them and put this scar on my forehead, because it not only led to be me being a target of the Dark Lord, it also seems to have made me  _ your  _ target somehow!”

“I wouldn’t quite say that,” said Dumbledore, laughing. “I merely want to assure myself that the Horcrux inside your head isn’t turning you dark.”

“The… what?” Lily stuttered, not having to fake her shock. 

“A portion of Voldemort’s soul, inside your head…. Inside your _scar,”_ Dumbledore said. “Tell me, Miss Potter… that’s how you knew to follow him down into the underground chambers, isn’t it?”  
“Y-yes,” Lily stuttered. “I knew we had a connection, but I didn’t know _what_ it was…”

“I think there’s a simple solution to all this,” Dumbledore said in a silky voice, and raised his wand again. She heard Tom curse  _ oh, shit,  _ and then she was almost completely alone. 

_ “Avada Kedavra!” _

***

Lily wasn’t aware of the gasps that sounded from the back of the tea shop, wasn’t aware of the server who ran to her and ran her finger over her forehead, where there no longer was a scar. 

She wasn’t aware of Dumbledore’s shocked expression as the server cradled Lily’s body in her arms and hissed “You monster!”, or Dumbledore’s panicked expression as he told the server to find the nearest Healer.

Instead, she floated in what looked like a white train station, next to a cloaked individual who looked more ghost than man. 

“You have to go back,” he told her, as Lily looked up at him with wide eyes. “You can’t let him win,” he said, and Lily realized he was the Horcrux of her father who had been inside her scar.

“But I already have,” Lily whispered, pulling her knees to her chest and feeling much younger than twelve years old. “He  _ killed  _ you. I was supposed to protect you.” 

“That is what my other self said, yes, but… truthfully, I was supposed to protect  _ you,”  _ the now dead Hocrux responded. “Ever since you properly became the Princess… we hoped it would never come to this, but… now, Albus Dumbledore cannot touch you.”

“Can’t touch me?” Lily asked, blinking up at the cloaked figure.

He laughed. “My dear, do you really think women are the only people capable of performing the bond of blood charm?”

Lily felt like all of the wind had been forced out of her. She knew in her heart that this cloaked figure was referring to the charm that had been cast on her when her mother died - and that it had been cast again by this portion of her father sacrificing himself to preserve her life. 

“He clearly meant to kill Tom,” The hooded figure laughed. “The plan worked. Now go. Live your life.”

“... Without you?” Lily whimpered, feeling the chasm between them for the first time. Ever since she was little, she’d had company inside her head, even if it wasn’t obvious. How was she supposed to go on now, alone?

“You must.” The hooded figure turned to stare at her, and Lily saw clearly that all that was left of him was two shining red eyes under the cloak. “Go back, now, or this will be for naught.”

***

Lily’s eyes blinked open, and she found herself in a bed at St. Mungo’s Hospital, with mediwitches fussing over her. Albus Dumbledore sat in the corner, reading a book.

“I’m… back!” she said, with a forced smile. 

The mediwitch hovering over her gasped, and turned to the others. “She’s alive! Albus, come see, she’s alive!”

Dumbledore walked up to the bed. “Feeling better?”

“Yeah,” she lied. “Where are my robes?” she asked, noting the medical outfit she was in.

“They’re in the drawer of that chest of drawers over there,” Dumbledore answered, reaching out and trying to touch the flat skin that formerly had boasted a lightining bolt-shaped scar.

But with a surge of powerful magic, he jumped back, looking at his hand in confusion. Lily hid a smile, knowing that it must be burning. 

“I suppose… my theory that any version of Voldemort could not care for anyone, must be false,” he muttered. 

Lily looked at him, trying to blink her eyes in confusion.

“The Horcrux in your scar thought I was trying to kill you, and must’ve… sacrificed himself?” Dumbledore blinked. “Of course, I meant to kill him, but I suppose… Well, fixing that’s simple enough. We can do a blood bond.”

“With all due respect, Headmaster, you just cast the Killing Curse on me, even if it wasn’t on  _ me,”  _ Lily said, trying to keep her voice from shaking. “I’d prefer if we didn’t. Besides, isn’t blood magic dark? I want to avoid that now that I’m. Free.”

Dumbledore nodded, backing away from Lily slowly. “Of course, of course.”


	33. Muggle Hunting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Death Eaters plot, and Lily and her father go hunting.

That evening, Slytherin Manor was the busiest Lily had ever seen it. It seemed like all of the Death Eaters who had some sort of influence over the Daily Prophet or Hogwarts had been summoned, and they all were scattered around the throne room in various clusters when Lily walked in.

Her father was sitting on the throne and speaking in hushed voices with Lucius Malfoy and a dark-skinned woman in Death Eater robes who Lily thought she vaguely recognized from Hogwarts. When he saw Lily approaching, he looked up at her and gestured for her to take her seat next to him.

“So, Albus Dumbledore finally makes his fatal mistake,” Lucius Malfoy said in a dry voice as Lily sat down, noting that she no longer had a scar on his forehead.

“Which one?” Lily asked sarcastically, folding her arms over her chest.

“Mostly, casting a killing curse on the Chosen One in broad daylight in a wizarding village,” her father responded. “But certainly in part, destroying one of my Hocruxes.”

Lily looked down at the bottom of her robes. “I’m sorry, Father.”

“Don’t be. It was inevitable. Of course I’m not  _ happy  _ that it happened, but Albus Dumbledore certainly has easy access to you, and once he realized that you were both an enemy and the vessel of one of my Horcruxes… of course he would go on the attack,” her father responded, sighing and leaning back in his chair. “But unfortunately for the old man, he did it in probably the sloppiest way possible.”

“I guess I’m glad my first Occlumency lesson took place in Diagon Alley and not at Hogwarts,” Lily answered, forcing a smile. She still felt empty. She didn’t  _ like  _ being as alone as she felt right now. 

“It is certainly a blessing. Now, Malfoy, I’m sure you know that your responsibility is to sway the other members of the Board of Governors to believe that Dumbledore is a threat to the students at Hogwarts. It’s certainly suspicious that he casts the Killing Curse on the Chosen One after four students died under mysterious circumstances, isn’t it? And De Courcy, your responsibility is to sew doubt among the staff of Hogwarts, without raising suspicion… and ideally, become McGonnagal’s replacement when she inevitibly vacates the Deputy Headmistress seat for Headmistress. Think that you can do it?” The Dark Lord smiled at the mysterious woman, whose last name Lily didn’t recognize.

“I will do my utmost, my Lord,” the woman said, bowing slightly.

“Good. Both of you are dismissed, now - I wish to speak with my heiress privately,” the Dark Lord said with a wave of his hand. Lucius Malfoy and the de Courcy woman rushed away, and Lily’s father raised a shield around the thrones so that nobody could hear his conversation with Lily.

“De Courcy… I don’t recognize the name, even though I feel like I should know her,” Lily mused. “Who is she?’

Her father’s lips turned upward into the first genuine smile she’d seen from him in a while. “That’s Aurora Sinistra, your Astronomy teacher. De Courcy is her married name. She was born in the Land of the Blessed, a small French-speaking wizarding country in Africa, attended Uagadou School of Magic, graduating with distinction, and married a member of the country’s nobility. Like all students who graduated with distinction from that school, she is highly skilled at self-transfiguration, which is why you only vaguely recognized her. She’s actually a distant cousin of Vivian Avery, another member of my Inner Circle. She’s the best astronomer in Great Britain, so she managed to impress Albus Dumbledore enough to land a spot on the Hogwarts staff. Our current theory is that he is impressed by her but not trusting of her - she wasn’t given the opportunity to make a puzzle to guard the Sorcerer’s Stone last year, after all,” He shrugged.

“Wait,” Lily asked, eyes wide. “There’s  _ another  _ Death Eater on the Hogwarts staff, and I didn’t know?”

The Dark Lord waved his hand in response to her question. “She is a Death Eater, but not an important enough one to be officially Marked. That’s been awfully handy, as Dark Marks are somewhat difficult to hide. If she manages to pull off the mission of becoming the deputy Headmistress, however, she will be promoted and earn a Mark.”

“But she serves you. And me,” Lily said, smiling.

“That she does, dear,” her father answered.

Lily sighed with relief upon hearing her father call her “dear”. “You’re not upset with me?”

“I’m not upset with you. I’m  _ furious  _ with Albus Dumbledore,’ her father said, fist tightening. 

“What does it feel like… for part of your soul to die?” Lily asked, cautiously putting a hand over her father’s. 

“It feels like… like you’re not alive anymore. Like you’re not  _ supposed  _ to be alive anymore,” her father answered, inhaling sharply. “But I’ve heard that the feeling goes away, at least.”

“When?” Lily asked, her eyes searching her fathers’.

“Most books say it goes away when you kill again,” He shrugs. “Balance and all that.”

“It sort of feels like I shouldn’t be alive, too,” Lily whispered, looking down at her shoes. “The Horcrux… I don’t know, it was like he became a part of me.”

“Well, we can’t have you feeling like that,” her father said, taking her hand and squeezing it. “Come on. Let’s have some fun.”

“What kind of fun?” Lily asked, looking up at her father with what she hoped would be a seductive smile.

“Whatever kind you would like. But first, Muggle hunting,” He smirked.

“Muggle hu-?” Lily didn’t have the chance to finish her question, before she was swept up into a vortex and they both Disaparted from the throne room.

***

Lily was about to ask who they were going to be hunting, but as she looked around the street they had landed on, she realized. “Privet Drive. The Dursleys,” she said in a quiet voice.

“One for each of us… and an extra,” Voldemort said, smiling. He didn’t seem quite sane. 

“Dudley’s just a child…” Lily said quietly.

“So? He’s a Muggle, and a bully. He hurt you, and let his parents do the same,” the Dark Lord said, drawing his wand.

“Please. Do you think he could’ve feasibly stopped them? It’s not like they were great to him. And wouldn’t it be more justice for him to become a foster child, like I was?” she asked. 

“I suppose it would be poetic,” Her father shrugged and lowered his wand. “Once again, you are kinder than anyone could ever reasonably expect you to be after the life you’ve lived.”

_ I don’t know about that,  _ Lily thought, thinking about how she  _ had  _ killed two other twelve-year-olds recently. 

They walked up to the door of Number Four Privet Drive, and her father knocked sharply. 

“Get the door, Dursley,” Lily heard Petunia call, and her blood boiled, thinking of all of the times the Dursleys had treated her like their slave. She wondered if they were doing the same thing to Dudley now.

“Can she be mine?” Lily whispered.

“It makes the most sense,” her father answered.

Dudley opened the door, and his jaw dropped. “Mum, Dad, it’s -” 

“ _ Imperio,”  _ the Dark Lord hissed, and Dudley fell silent.

“It’s your niece, and me,” Voldemort said, striding past a shocked Dudley and into the foyer. 

“Dudley, go to the cupboard under the stairs,” Lily instructed her cousin gleefully. 

“Yes, miss,” Dudley said, and hurried to take his place in Lily’s old “room”.

“It’s Voldemort,” Petunia said in a shocked voice. 

“Voldywhatsit?” Vernon asked, looking between Petunia and the Dark Royals.

“Her  _ father,”  _ her father said, grabbing her hand. “Adoptive, that is. But a damn better one than you ever were an uncle.”

“Lily, you’re… you’re happy with this?” Petunia asked, wide-eyed.

“Not that it’s any of your business, but  _ yes, _ ” Lily hissed. She pointed her wand at Petunia. “Crucio!”

Petuina fell back from the force of the spell, screaming. Vernon’s face turned purple and he ran towards Lily, hands outstretched like he wanted to strangle her. “Oh no you don’t,” Voldemort said, casting  _ Incendio  _ and sending a blast of fire towards him. Vernon’s screams joined his wife’s as the fire started eating at his clothing, and Lily’s father smiled at her. 

“I’m proud of you,” he said. 

Vernon’s eyes widened, like he was shocked by the possibility of someone being proud of her for successfully landing a curse on someone who had abused her for ten years. Neither Dursley had any ability to speak thanks to the pain we were experiencing. 

“You were always jealous of my mother,” Lily said, stepping towards Petunia purposefully. “And what’s more, I think you were always jealous of  _ me.  _ Why did you have to live a normal life, while Magic chose me and my mother?” Lily smiled and replaced the torture curse on Petunia with a blood-boiling one. “Well, because  _ She saw us as worthy.  _ You, however, Petunia Dursley, my so-called aunt... are nothing but a worthless abuser.” Lily raised her wand, wishing it was the Elder Wand.  _ “Avada Kedavra.” _

Her father followed suit, killing Vernon soon afterwards. When he was finished, he turned to Lily. “Go upstairs to the bedroom and wait for me. I’ll deal with this.”

 


	34. Othala

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lily gets a replacement scar. (tw incest again)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know the Nazi connotations of the rune, but white supremacist scum don't get to take pagan symbols away. And I mean, you can also make up your own mind about whether it fits or not.

Lily sat in the master bedroom in Number Four Privet Drive, feeling a sense of doing something forbidden. She’d never been permitted into Vernon and Petunia’s bedroom when she’d lived with them - Dudley hadn’t either, to the best of her knowledge. It was nothing special - bedcovers in a sickening shade of pink and fading yellow wallpaper - but she liked that she was in no way supposed to be where she was.

A few minutes later, her father walked up the stairs and into the bedroom and took off his jacket, sitting down on the bed. “How does it feel?” he asked, searching her eyes for answers.

“Satisfying,” Lily answered. “Do you… feel like you’re supposed to be alive now?” She knew she did, but her father was the one who had actually lost a piece of his soul. It might be harder for him.

He nodded, taking her hands in his own. “Yes. Although I still wish I hadn’t lost the connection to you.”

Lily’s hand unconsciously touched the place where her scar should be. It felt wrong, not having one anymore. “Me too. I don’t like it,” Thinking back to all of the times he’d made her scar signal that he wanted her to come to him, her eyes grew wide. “How are you going to communicate with me now?”

“I can give you a new one,” her father said, and her eyes grew wide. 

“On my forehead? Everyone will know.”

“Honestly, your forehead isn’t the best place for it. What about over your heart?” He smiled. 

Lily shivered when he proposed it, but it was in a good way. “Yes please, my Lord,” 

He looked at her with a soft expression and then drew his wand. Lily winced in pain as he used the tip of his wand to make several precise cuts, forming a small rune that sat right over her heart. He’d clearly spilled some blood of his own to seal the spell, she noticed, as she saw their blood running together and highlighting the rune.  _ Othala.  _ Despite only having vaguely studied runes, the name popped into her mind, and she spoke it softly. 

“Rightful inheritance, ancestral spiritual power, protection, and ascension to a position of royalty,” her father said proudly, sitting back and casting healing spells on the cut so it would immediately heal and form a scar. “As my heiress and Magic’s chosen Princess, these are your birthrights.”

Lily traced the symbol with her finger, feeling the power emenating from it, and the connecton it heralded. “This one’s better,” she said with a smile.

“Well, the first one was an accident that we made the best of,” her father replied. Lily laughed.

She could feel the connection sparking between them, their magic singing at being reunited. She also desperately wanted him to claim her in another way, too, and barely restrained herself from grabbing for him and pulling her down on top of her. 

The Dark Lord could clearly feel the connection too, and Lily could tell that he wanted her. She looked up at him, smiling. “My Lord, surely we came up here for certain… activities that are typically undertaken in a bedroom.”

She could see him visibly sigh in relief, as he smiled back at her. “I hoped you’d say that.” 

The new symbol on her heart, combined with her attraction, formed a feeling that Lily wasn’t very used to - an aching, yearning for him to touch her, to use his magic on her, to  _ claim  _ her. “ _ Please,”  _ she whispered, half-closing her eyes.

“ _ Sensifera,”  _ he whispered, the same sensory-heightening spell he’d used on her before - but in a much more pleasurable context this time.

Lily’s world spun before her eyes as she felt the power of his magic surround her. With a wave of his hand, her robes were off and on top of the bedside table, and his followed shortly. He cupped her cheek in his hand, then ran a finger down her neck and onto the rune. She unconsciously raised her hips in response to him touching the rune, and he smirked a little and moved his fingertip down further.

Somehow, when he slid a finger under the hood of her clitoris, it was enough to make her squirm. He smiled understandingly and summoned silver ropes, that flew around her wrists and ankles and kept her firmly in place as he softly stroked her. Lily’s cries became more desperate, and she honestly  _ hoped  _ that Dudley would hear from downstairs, and know how much they were enjoying themselves.

Too soon, the soft strokes stopped. She blinked her eyes in confusion, looking up at him. There was a glimmer of mischief in his eyes as his cock plunged into her, making her yelp. The pressure between her hips and the friction was compounded by the sensory-heightening charm, and she clung to the bedsheets, not wanting to  _ actually  _ scream.

“Be careful what you wish for, my Princess,” her father said as he pushed her to orgasm, and then softly kissed her lips.

“I mean, if not being careful what I wish for is going to get me  _ that  _ then I don’t want to be,” Lily laughed. 

“Fair point,” her father said, and pointed his wand at her, casting  _ Finate Incantatem  _ and finishing the charms that had made her so sensitive to his touch. He then ran his fingers over her body, like he was checking to make sure that she was still real or hadn’t been destroyed by Dumbledore. She curled up against his chest, breathing slowly. 

“You’re mine, and no one can take you away from me,” her father said, his voice sounding imperious as he traced patterns on her skin with his finger. “And you won’t want to leave,” 

“Nuh-uh,” Lily said quietly, nestling up to him. Leaving felt as unfathomable as going on a train in the white station. She didn’t  _ want  _ to leave the life of power and safety she’d been given. And if anyone tried to take her away, she’d fight like hell to stay.


	35. He's Back

That evening, Professor Sinistra escorted a faux-distraught Lily back to Hogwarts, with the explanation that she’d slipped away in St. Mungo’s because she’d gotten an owl from Mrs. Figg informing her that her aunt and uncle had been murdered. Lily knew that a new foster family would have to be selected for her, but after seeing the look on her face, and after the events that had already transpired that day, Dumbledore and McGonagall seemed to decide against starting the process of figuring that out tonight. 

The Gryffindor dormitory was unusually solemn, with even the Weasley twins having  taken a break from being ridiculous. Hermione ran to Lily as soon as she saw her in the door of the common room, clinging to her tightly.

“You went off with Dumbledore and didn’t return - and then there were the rumors - and I worried that you were  _ dead! _ ” Hermione sobbed, and then looked up at Lily’s forehead. “Wait. What happened to your scar?”

“Well, apparently, when Dumbledore cast the Killing Curse on me, it destroyed the Horcrux of Voldemort that was inside my scar, and therefore got rid of the scar,” Lily answered.

“So the rumors are true.” came the voice of Dean Thomas from one of the couches. “Dumbledore actually tried to kill you.” 

“I mean, that’s definitely what it felt like,” Lily answered, then looked quizzically at Dean. “Wait. What rumors?”

“I mean, from what I hear, the panicked server at the tea shop wrote owls to several of her friends, detailing the events of the afternoon. And you know - rumors spread, and lots of us had House Elves coming up to us and telling us we needed to check the Owlery for new letters from our parents,” Percy Weasley explained. “Of course, there were plenty of false rumors too, like that you got possessed by You-Know-Who and ran off with Dumbledore’s wand.”  
“I did die…” Lily admitted, sitting down on a couch. “I was in this weird train station like place…”

“I’ve been there!” Colin Creevey exclaimed excitedly. “I drowned when I was six and people thought I was dead until I started breathing again. Everybody said it was just a product of my imagination though.”  
“No, I think it’s… I think it’s magic,” Lily answered, leaning back against the cushions and trying to look confused. “Magic let me come back to life. And… and there _was_ something else, too.”

All around the common room, there were whispers about how she was the Chosen One, and the girl who had lived  _ twice.  _ Percy kneeled next to the couch and looked at her. “What else happened, Lily?”

“You’re going to say it sounds made-up, just like Colin’s parents thought his thing was made up,” Lily said, shaking her head vehemently. 

“We won’t. Will we, guys?” Percy asked, looking up and making eye-contact with his friends and brothers, who all shook their heads.

“I saw… You Know Who. Well, his Horcrux form - that’s the little bit of him that was inside me, making the scar - and he told me to come back to life. He also… well, Dumbledore can’t touch me anymore, and he thinks that the Horcrux bit did some sort of spell to protect me from him, like… sacrificing himself so that Dumbledore can’t touch me.” Lily looked down, hands trembling.

_ “He Who Must Not Be Named  _ protecting the Chosen One?” Lily heard an older Gryffindor whisper from behind her. 

“He doesn’t want to kill you?” asked Ron, sounding thoroughly befuddled. 

“I mean, either that or he wants to be the one to kill me himself,” Lily said, shrugging. “Or thought that the magic he did would bring him back to life, or something.”

“Imagine the headline of the  _ Prophet  _ if Dumbledore  _ had  _ killed her, though!” Colin Creevey said, in a voice that Lily thought was much too excited. “It’d be so scandalous!”

“Miss Potter has already been through enough today, Creevey. I don’t think she needs you speculating on how scandalous her murder would be,” a female Prefect admonished Colin.

“Thanks…” Lily said in a quiet voice. “That’s… that’s not all. While I was in St. Mungo’s, I got an Owl from my neighbor, who is apparently a Squib, saying that my aunt and uncle were murdered. Not my cousin, though. Apparently he’s going to be placed in foster care.”

“Well, I say good riddance,” Fred Weasley mumbled. “After the way you said they treated you? They deserve it.”

_ “Fred!”  _ Angelina Johnson hissed.

“I mean… that makes sense, but on the other hand, now I need to have new guardians, and I don’t really know any wizard adults, and they all think of me as some hero when all I’m doing is existing. Also, I can’t help but feel like this whole murder is probably connected to the new… protection or whatever that I got,” Lily said in a quiet voice.

“Maybe you can live with your Squib neighbor?” Angelina Johnson suggested?

“That wouldn’t be good enough, or good enough protection for Lily!” Dean Thomas burst out. “After all, it sounds like He Who Must Not Be Named is  _ back! _ ”

“Wait, what?” Lily asked, her head swielling towards Dean.

Everyone stared at Dean Thomas, as he stuttered while he explained himself. “Well, I mean, who would’ve had a reason and an ability to kill Lily’s aunt and uncle? And why would it happen right after the other Horcrux bit gave her that weird kind of protection?”

More whispering started, althought this time it was more anxious. “It would explain all the murders…” Lily heard a Gryffindor whisper.

“I can’t think about this right now. I’m going for a walk,” Lily said, standing up. “Percy, come with me since you’re a Prefect?” Lily asked.

“Of course, Potter, I can understand you needing to get some fresh air,” said Percy in a businesslike voice. “And I know I didn’t enforce it earlier, but go to your dormitories, all of you. It’s long past time, and I only let you all stay in the common room because Miss Potter was missing.”


	36. Fate

“So I’m guessing we’re going to the Slytherin common room, my Princess?” Percy asked, as soon as they were out of the Gryffindor common room and away from prying eyes.

“You catch on quickly,” Lily said with a smile. 

“I know it’s not much, but… I’m sure that Molly and Arthur wouldn’t mind fostering you, now that your aunt and uncle are dead,” Percy said cautiously.

Lily rolled her eyes. “Please. Do you actually think I lived with them this past summer?”

Percy blinked at her. “Yes?”

Sighing, Lily walked ahead of Percy. “I’m a  _ witch,  _ adopted by the best Dark Wizard of all time. There are plenty of charms to cast on unsuspecting Muggles so that they’ll tell anyone who checks in exactly what you want them to tell. I’ve been living with my father and going back to see him for breaks since the beginning of last school year.”

“Oh,” Percy said, and then fell quiet for the rest of their walk to the Slytherin dormitory.

***

The response of the Slytherins to Lily’s return wasn’t quite as obvious as that of the Gryffindors, but Lily could tell that they were relieved to see her returning nonetheless. She figured some of them had probably gotten notes from their parents telling them not to worry, and that would have probably made them less panicked that she’d gotten in trouble. After all, she’d had extended absences from Hogwarts before, like in the middle of the night, and everything had been fine.

Eva Rosier was the first to come up to her and Percy. “My Princess, I’m so glad you’re safe,” she said in a soft voice.

“Of course I am, Eva, don’t be silly,” Lily responded. “Fortunately, I am safe, but my Muggle aunt and uncle are not. They’re dead, courtesy of myself and my father. This means that I’ll need new guardians…  _ understanding  _ ones,” Lily put an emphasis on the word understanding, communicating that even if Eva’s parents became her foster parents, they would have no more control over her than a standard Death Eater would. “Do you think your parents are up for the job?”

Eva blinked, hands fluttering. “I - I’m sure they are, my Princess. I’m not sure if you thought about this, but it would also be showing an enormous amount of favor to me, and they would be very ha-”

Lily cut Eva off with a kiss, pushing her against the door of the Slytherin common room. Eva squeaked, her hands scrambling for purchase on the door, not knowing whether she was allowed to touch Lily or not. Lily smiled against her, and then stood back. “Yes. I’m aware it would be showing an enormous amount of favor. You deserve it, Eva Rosier.”

She then searched the room for Ginny Weasley, who she’d just realized had a similar conundrum to hers. She doubted that Dumbledore was taking the magical disowning seriously - he probably thought it was a normal family spat, and Ginny would be living with her parents again come Easter break. 

She caught Ginny’s eye, and crooked her finger in a nonverbal summons. Flustered, Ginny walked up to her. “My Princess?”

“Miss Black. I have just lost my aunt and uncle-” Lily made no attempt to hide the glee on her face “- and will be having to find new foster parents. It has occured to me that since you are disowed from the Weasley family, you will need new ones too. What about becoming fostered by Vivian Avery? She’s Julie’s mother.”

“I… it would be an honor, my Princess,” Ginny said, and Lily could tell that she was trying to surpress a beam. 

“Good. Now, bring me Julie, please. I need to speak with her and several others, alone,” Lily instructed Ginny, who nodded and walked away quickly.

Soon, Lily sat in her room with her inner circle, plus Percy. Some of the older members of her inner circle regarded Percy with distrust, but stopped looking at him funny once Lily glared at them for it. 

She recounted the story of how she’d told the Gryffindors about the protection spell her father had placed on her, and the useful role Percy had played in it. By the end of the story, most of the members of the Inner Circle were looking at Percy appreciatively.

“I can’t wait until my father convinces the rest of the Board of Governors to sack the white-haired idiot,” Draco said, smirking. “I don’t think it’ll be long now.”

“Especially not if there are  _ more  _ murders,” Lily said with a mysterious smile. 

“Will there be, My Princess?” Eva asked, as the rest of the Inner Circle leaned closer to Lily, eagerly anticipating her response.

“Well, one more  _ is  _ necessary in the grand scheme of things… and I can think of someone who is particularly unworthy to be attending a school for Witchcraft and Wizardry. Colin Creevey. I want you all to mess with him. Only in deniable ways, of course… but make sure he knows what’s eventually coming to him,” Lily said, lips spreading in a cruel smile. He’d been pissing her off all year, and his comment tonight about how scandalous it would be if she had died at Dumbledore’s hand had sealed his fate. The idiotic, obnoxious little muggle-born would never be useful in the new Wizarding World, and he would never be as loyal as she and her father deserved. The rune on her chest tingled in response to her decision, radiating satisfied magic.

“My Princess, are you sure that’s a good idea? He was insensitive earlier, sure, but he is a child of Magic and only a first year…” Percy asked.

Lily raised an eyebrow. “Who do you think you’re speaking to, exactly?”

“I.. of course, my Princess, I was merely offering advice,” Percy said, stuttering.

“The next time I want your advice - which likely won’t be anytime soon given the impunity with which you offered it this time - I’ll  _ ask  _ for it.  _ Crucio!”  _ Lily, infuriated at someone she’d given so much status questioning her, cast a blast of red light at him, and he fell from his chair, screaming.

“Any other questions?” she asked, turning to the rest of the group with a false saccharine smile.

There were none.


	37. Hogwarts: A History

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Prophet publishes an article about Dumbledore and Lily.

The next morning, when Lily walked down to the Great Hall for breakfast, the first thing she noticed were the large groups of students circled around the end of each table, and another group at the center of the Ravenclaw table. She looked at Hermione with a confused expression, only to notice that Hermione was looking at her with the exact same expression.

Shrugging, Lily headed to the group at the end of the Gryffindor table. Fred Weasley was holding court, reading something in a dramatic voice. When she got closer, she realized it was an article in the  _ Daily Prophet  _ about her and Dumbledore.

“The Gryffindor Princess and her compatriots are here!” Fred said in a bellowing voice, holding out his arm to indicate Lily, Hermione, and several other students from their year and the year below. “I will start over. Everyone needs to be given freedom to hear about Albus Dumbledore’s transgressions, after all,” 

Hermione smirked slightly, then covered it up with a shocked expression, as Fred started reading. “The Girl Who Lived Again… Albus Dumbledore SNAPS! Yesterday, in the Rosa Lee Teabag shop, Albus Dumbledore  _ interrogated  _ the Girl Who Lived via Legilimency, claimed that she carried a piece of He Who Must Not Be Named’s soul inside her, and cast the Killing Curse on her!”

“He used  _ Legilimency  _ on you?” Hermione gasped. “The only people allowed to perform that spell without Ministry approval or parent/guardian permission are Aurors!”

_ Well, I guess my dad’s been breaking a lot more laws than I was aware of, then,  _ Lily thought. “Wow, that’s awful. I had no idea,” she said. “I didn’t even think it was that big a deal, I guess. I mean, I knew I didn’t want him to, but still.”

The rest of the article was an annoyingly detailed recount of what had happened. Lily supposed the “source” must’ve had a recording device or something. What really caught her attention, though, was the end of the article. “ _ The Daily Prophet has reached out to Miss Potter and Mr. Dumbledore for comments and has received no response.” _

“The Daily Prophet contacted you?” Ron asked with big eyes.

“Uh… no. They didn’t send anything,” Lily folded her arms over her chest, annoyed.

“Didn’t send… or you didn’t get it?” Percy asked, raising an eyebrow.

“What do you mean?” asked Lily, still annoyed at Percy for his impudence of the previous night but not about to go off on him in the middle of the Great Hall.

“Well, I mean, Hogwarts has wards. Anti-Apparation and Disapparation, and of course there’s magic that prevents current and escaped Azkaban prisoners from sending letters to underage students after Dumbledore got wind of Slytherins communicating with them in 1987,” Percy explained. “It’s entirely possible that Dumbledore knew the  _ Prophet  _ would be after him for what he did to you, and blocked any communication from them from entering Hogwarts,” He then looked around the hall, and pointed out the four other copies of the  _ Prophet  _ out on the tables. “And  _ way  _ more than five students subscribe to the Daily Prophet. I’m fairly certain I only got my issue because I enchanted Hermes’ talons to put a concealment charm on all of my mail,” He puffed his chest out.

So the  _ Prophet  _ issue that Fred was reading had been Percy’s. It made sense. 

“You sure you didn’t put that charm on so you could correspond with our  _ dear  _ cousin Bellatrix who’s locked up in Azkaban?” Fred snorted.

Neville, sitting nearby, started at the mention of Bellatrix Lestrange’s name. “Y-you didn’t, did you?” he stuttered.

“Why would I want to communicate with  _ her?  _ She’s insane. No, I just like my mail private, is all,” Percy said, rolling his eyes.

Lily made a mental note to learn the charm from Percy and put it on Hedwig too. “You know a lot about the Hogwarts mail system,” she commented. 

“Oh, it was mentioned in all editions of  _ Hogwarts: A History  _ starting in 1989,” Hermione jumped in, smiling.

Lily looked up at the head table. None of the professors seemed like their usual selves - well, with the exception of Sinistra and Snape, who never looked happy. Dumbledore was positively  _ glowering,  _ and McGonagall's face was turned down. Flitwick was ignoring the rest of the professors while he shoved as much food down his throat as possible.

“They’re not happy that some of the issues of the  _ Prophet  _ got through,” Hermione said in a quiet voice. 

“Well,  _ obviously  _ not. And with that, I think I’ll take my book back, thank you,” Percy said in a sharp voice, then pointed his wand at the issue of the  _ Daily Prophet  _ and spoke some Latin words. The map folded itself up and expanded into a copy of  _ Hogwarts: A History. _

“You know what we should do, George?” Fred said, looking at his brother.

“What, Fred?” George asked back.

“We should create an undercover student newspaper! Dumbledore will have a hard time censoring  _ that,  _ if all of the copies come from inside,” Fred beamed. 

“Brilliant!” said another Gryffindor boy.

“Yeah, that would be a great idea! We should get help from some of the other Houses, too. Ravenclaws would know a lot about history and what happens at Hogwarts, since they always watch everything, Hufflepuffs would probably have a lot to say about the food and House-Elves, and most of the Slytherins are pretty well-connected,” Lily smiled, sitting down at the table and starting to eat breakfast.

“You want us to collaborate with  _ Slytherins _ ?” Fred asked, narrowing his eyes.

“Hey. Ginny’s in Slytherin. And they’re really not all that bad. After all, who’s the person who always says Slytherins are evil and dark?” Lily asked.

“... Dumbledore?” Neville spoke up from further down the table. “And a lot of other people, but that’s probably because Dumbledore says it.”

“Yeah. And you don’t trust him, Neville, right? You don’t trust someone who would cast an Unforgivable Curse and then brush it off like it was nothing!” Lily insisted.

“Nah! I wouldn’t!” Neville pumped a fist in the air. “Let’s unite the houses!”

Hermione chuckled a little, and Neville glared at her. “What’re you laughing about?”

“Just… that  _ you’re  _ the one rallying to unite Gryffindor and Slytherin! Who would’ve thought?” Hermione smiled.

Lily knew why she was actually laughing.


	38. Can't Burn the Truth

It was true that Dumbledore was cracking down on the presence of the Daily Prophet at Hogwarts - when Lily was summoned to Albus Dumbledore’s office that day to discuss her future living situation, she saw three issues of the  _ Prophet  _ on Dumbledore’s desk, all which looked fairly worn.

“It’s fascinating, isn’t it?” Dumbledore asked, looking up at Lily as she approached his desk. “One can try as hard as one wants to suppress certain kinds of information, but it will eventually be revealed… although not for long,” He pointed his wand at the stack of Daily Prophet newspapers.  _ “Incendio!” _

Lily didn’t know what to say, which was a first, as she watched the newspapers burn to ashes in front of her eyes. “You haven’t found all of them, have you?” she asked.

Dumbledore turned to look at her. “No, Miss Potter, I in fact have not. There were five newspapers out in the Great Hall this morning - I have only collected three. Two from Ravenclaw and one from Hufflepuff. Perhaps, since you are so close with members of both Gryffindor and Slytherin, you know where the other two copies are hiding?”

“And if I did, why would I tell you?” Lily asked, narrowing her eyes at him. “You  _ broke the law.  _ You nearly killed me. People deserve to know that.”

Dumbledore leaned forward on the desk. “You’ll tell me, Miss Potter, because I was the one to place you with the Dursleys. You can either cooperate, and act like the rest of the Wizarding World expects you to, and I will place you with a wizarding family who will treat you properly… or you can rebel, and I will personally ensure that your new placement is worse than the Dursleys… all so that you can learn where your allegiances should lie, of course.”

“Really?” Lily raised an eyebrow.

“Really. In fact, the Snyde family is all but ready to take you in. Mrs. Snyde was quite a bully in her times at Hogwarts, and well…” Dumbledore gave a small pseudo-sympathetic smile “... I doubt she has  _ pure  _ motives for inviting the Girl Who Lived to come live with her.” 

“That’s enough, Albus,” came a voice from the doorway, and a man who Lily vaguely recognized walked in. 

“Minister!” Dumbledore said, standing up. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Cut the formalities, Albus. I heard exactly what you said to Miss Potter here, and you are surely aware that you have broken the law at least twice over in the past few days - and one of your offences merits life imprisonment in Azkaban. I’m here to take you to there, and instate Minerva McGonagall as the new Headmistress of Hogwarts, as agreed upon by the Board of Governors,” The minister, whose name Lily now remembered as Cornelius Fudge, nodded to two guards who stood next to him.

“Surely, Minister, I am owed a hearing?” Dumbledore asked.

Fudge waved his hand in the air. “Well, of course you are, but I highly doubt you’ll be cleared of your charges. These are some very serious charges, Albus.” He then turned to Lily. “There is also the issue of your threats about placing Miss Potter in a home with a known former ally of the Death Eaters. Miss Potter, I’m sure you wouldn’t like to live there… is there anywhere that you  _ would  _ like to live?” he asked.

“Well, Eva Rosier and Ron Weasley’s parents both offered me the ability to be fostered by them, but… honestly, I’ve heard from Ron that the Burrow is really cramped and they’re not doing that great with money. So I think I’d prefer the Rosiers,” she answered.

“ _ Eva  _ Rosier?” Cornelius Fudge asked, his brow wrinkling in confusion.

“The elder Rosier child. You might know of her as Corvus Rosier,” Lily said, wincing as she said Eva’s deadname, but knowing that might be the only way she could get Fudge to know who she was talking about.

“Right. The shemale. Honestly, I can’t keep up with all of these changes…” Fudge said, shaking his head. “Anyway, Albus, kindly come with me. Your trial is tomorrow. Miss Potter, pending Ministry review of the safety of their home, you can certainly live with the Rosiers.”

Lily was infuriated by the term, but instead of saying anything, just walked out of Fudge’s office. She didn’t want to get in any  _ more  _ trouble.

***

Lily returned to the Gryffindor common room, slightly shaken but determined to tell everyone about what had happened with Dumbledore. Percy met her at the door. “How did your meeting with Dumbledore go? Who’s going to foster you?”

“The Rosiers, presuming that they pass their inspection and interview,” Lily told him, making a mental note to tell Eva about said inspection.

“That’s great!” Percy said with a big smile, although Lily could tell that he was jealous. Of who, she wasn’t quite sure. 

“Yeah. Except for the part where Dumbledore made an innuendo about how he could stick me with Merula Snyde and her cousin/husband, who apparently have less than pure intentions in volunteering to foster me,” Lily snorted. 

“What?” Percy’s eyebrows shot up. “You have to tell everyone! Maybe you could even get back to the Prophet and give that as your comment, if you used Hermes…”

“I think I’ll stick with telling Gryffindor for now,” Lily said, pushing towards the center of the room. Percy cast the  _ Sonorus  _ charm on himself and bellowed “Everyone! Listen to our Princess!”

All eyes turned to Lily, and she smirked. She told the Gryffindors, listening in rapt attention, about Dumbledore burning three copies of the  _ Prophet  _ in front of her and about him threatening to send her to the Snydes. Fred and George looked especially furious, and Lily realized this must have been because “their” Ginny was befriending Starling Snyde. Most of the third years and up looked especially furious at Dumbledore’s comment about the impure intentions of Merula and her husband, whereas most of the first and second years didn’t seem to understand what was going on.

“We’ve gotta do it. We’ve gotta make the paper!” said Neville Longbottom, standing on top of one of the couches and almost falling down. “We’ll show Dumbledore that he can’t burn the truth!”

Cheers erupted in response to Neville’s declaration, and the common room filled with chants of “HE CAN’T BURN THE TRUTH!” Lily smiled to herself and grabbed Hermione’s hand.


	39. Molded from Marble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gryffindor hosts a party to celebrate the launch of the Hogwarts newspaper, and Lily meets her new "foster parents".

That Saturday evening, the Fat Lady, for once, didn’t make sarcastic comments as the students entered the Gryffindor common room. This was quite possibly because for the first time since the era of the Hogwarts founders, many students from all four houses were congregating in the Gryffindor common room, greeted and welcomed by the Gryffindor prefects, and more subtly by the Girl Who Lived.

Once the other students - five each from Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, and many more from Slytherin, thanks to Lily’s influence - had settled in the common room, Percy looked to Lily to kick off the party. The common room was pretty packed, with the Patil twins squeezing next to each other on a chair and lots of students sitting on the back and arms of couches, and some even on the floor. 

Lily walked to the table in the center of the Gryffindor common room, hopped on top of it, and used the  _ Sonorus  _ charm to magnify her voice. “Witches, wizards and wixen…” She could see Eleta Dunlap, sitting with Hermione and a few other Muggle-born Gryffindors smile, “... we’re gathered here today to kick off the  _ Phoenix Gazette,  _ Hogwarts’ very own school paper. In an effort to protect his own reputation, and to silence those opposed to him, our  _ former  _ Headmaster Albus Dumbledore has banned the Daily Prophet from entering the walls of Hogwarts. And it unfortunately appears that our new Headmistress is either unwilling or unable to undo the wards keeping it. We refuse to bow to his intimidation and suppression of the truth, and insist that students of Hogwarts have a way to access the truth without risking potentially having their letters read or blocked.”

The students in the common room watched Lily, rapt. She continued. “On his last day as Headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore summoned me to his office to watch as he burned several confiscated editions of the  _ Daily Prophet.  _ But we will not let him burn the truth. It will rise from the ashes, akin to a phoenix, tomorrow morning, when the first edition of the paper is released in the Great Hall at breakfast. And tonight, we celebrate the futility of the efforts of those who wish to suppress the truth.”

Deafening cheers erupted from the students in the common room, with the Slytherins and Gryffindors cheering the loudest for their Princess. Lily beamed as she stepped down from the table, nearly bumping into Draco Malfoy. 

“Nice job, Girl Who Lived,” Draco said, with a smile.

“I think you mean  _ Princess Lily,” _ Lily corrected him, smirking. “Come on, be the model of Slytherin manners that you’re supposed to be. Maybe then the Gryffindors will follow.”

“I don’t think Gryffindors could ever manage to have Slytherin manners… but of course, my Princess,” Draco responded, with a wink. “Now the entirety of Hogwarts will see you as an authority even more than they already did.”

“And your father seems to have done his job,” Lily whispered in Draco’s ear. “I’m sure mine will be happy with him.”

“Yes, there was an unanimous vote to oust Dumbledore from office, and he’s been stripped of his Order of Merlin. He only got away with not being imprisoned in Azkaban because the Wizengamot, which by the way, he’s not even a member of anymore, didn’t have the 75 percent of votes required to imprison him. That was mentioned in the  _ Prophet -  _ I suppose our illustrious new headmistress doesn’t want people to know,” Draco said with a scoff.  

Lily rolled her eyes. Although Dumbledore wasn’t Headmaster anymore, she doubted that McGonagall would make significant changes to the policies he’d instituted while Headmaster. Thankfully, Aurora Sinistra was deputy Headmistress. It was all working out as well as Lily could’ve imagined, really. 

Lily then walked over to Hermione, who was chatting with Eleta, Colin Creevey, and some other Gryffindor Muggle-borns. “What were you and Draco talking about?” Hermione asked.

“He was mainly bragging about how his father had managed to get the Hogwarts Board of Directors to vote unanimously for Dumbledore to be removed from off-,” 

“I’m gonna be on the Board of Directors one day!” Colin Creevey interjected excitedly. 

“As if,” Eleta said in a flat voice, rolling their eyes. “And you know, you might not even live that long. Hogwarts is dangerous, especially for Muggle-borns.”

“You’re a Muggleborn!” Colin protested in a high voice. “And so is Hermione!”

“Yeah, well, we actually  _ know  _ stuff about how the wizarding world works,” They rolled their eyes. “You still look at wizarding cameras with shock every time they spit out a moving image.”

“Well, it’s pretty amazing!” Colin’s voice was shrill, and Lily could tell that her Slytherins had been doing a good job of messing with him. It was unbelievable that he’d actually thought he’d have some solace with Eleta.

“Yeah, and why do you say Hogwarts is especially dangerous for Muggle-borns?” argued a fourth-year Gryffindor. “Nobody who’s died this year has even been Muggle-born.”

“Moaning Myrtle was Muggle-born,” Eleta shrugged. 

***

A couple of hours passed, and Eva Rosier found Lily in the big party. “Ready to meet your new foster parents?” she asked. 

“Wait, what?” Hermione said, confused. “You told me-” 

“Yep!” Lily smiled, and whispered in Hermione’s ear,  _ Just play along.  _ “Come on, let’s go. The Rosiers will be seeing you plenty, after all, they might as well meet you too.”

“Uh… okay,” Hermione said, clearly confused. 

“Great! Let’s go!” Eva beamed, but Lily could sense the slight anxiousness in her expression.

***

Just as Lily had told Hermione, they weren't going to see the Rosiers. Well, technically, they were - but they were going with the Rosiers to Slytherin Manor for dinner. Eva was clearly nervous that Lily’s father wouldn’t approve of her being a “her” now, but Lily was sure that wouldn’t happen. He’d allowed both Eva and Eleta to be members of her Inner Circle, after all.

Just as they’d gotten permission to do, Lily, Hermione and Eva departed from Snape’s Floo grate to the Rosier’s house. Upon arriving at the house, Lily noted that both Evan Rosier and his wife looked a little like they’d been molded from marble. 

“Father. Mother,” Eva said, curtsying slightly as she introduced Lily and Hermione. “The Dark Princess, and her girlfriend Hermione Black.”

Hermione squeezed Lily’s hand, clearly worrying that the Rosiers would call her out on being a Muggleborn member of the House of Black.

“It’s a pleasure,” Mrs. Rosier responded, reaching out to shake only Lily’s hand. She then turned to her daughter. “I wasn’t aware that the Princess’s… friend… would be attending dinner with us, Corvus.”

“Her name is _Eva_ , and she is recognized as such by Magic Herself,” Lily said in a sharp voice that immediately commanded the attention of the Rosiers. “And my father specifically requested that my _girlfriend,_ as in romantic partner, would be attending dinner with us.”

“I apologize, my Princess,” Mrs. Rosier said in a forced-sounding tone of voice. 

“Well, I’m sure the Dark Lord is eagerly anticipating our arrival, so… dear, why don’t you take Eva and Miss Black and I can take Princess Lily as we Aparate to the Dark Lord’s manor?” 

“Hermione’s coming with me,” Lily insisted, grabbing her girlfriend’s hand. She didn’t trust Mrs. Rosier for one second alone with her girlfriend. She also honestly had no interest in apparating alone with a man she’d just met.

“Certainly, my Princess,” Evan Rosier answered. 


	40. I Don't Do Anything Halfway

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lily, Hermione and the Rosiers have a dinner with Voldemort.

A minute later, the Rosiers, Lily, and Hermione appeared in the dining room of Slytherin Manor. Lily’s father sat at the head of the table, and he gestured for Lily to join him at his right side. Lily saw Evan Rosier’s expression briefly falter, and she realized that he probably had hoped  _ he  _ would take the position of right-hand man at this dinner. Her father summoned Evan to sit at his left side, and then directed Eva and Hermione to sit next to Mr. Rosier and Lily respectively. 

Lily could feel the annoyance and confusion of Mrs. Rosier at being seated the furthest away from the Dark Lord, and she could also feel the amusement on the part of her father. Hermione, completely oblivious to the social dynamics at the dinner table, merely folded her napkin in her lap and looked up at Eva and her mother across from her with a pleasant expression. 

“Mr. and Mrs. Rosier, it’s nice to meet my daughter’s new….  _ legal _ guardians. I certainly hope you will do a better job than her former guardians did,” Lily’s father said, the corner of his mouth turning up into a smile.

“Of course, my Lord,” Evan Rosier answered. “We will endeavour to be worthy guardians for the Princess.”

“And, Miss Rosier,” Lily’s father turned to Eva. “It’s wonderful to finally meet such a devoted member of my daughter’s Hogwarts Inner Circle. I have no doubt that come next year, you will make an excellent Death Eater.”

“I… it would be an honor, my Lord,” Eva responded, and Lily could see her blushing.

“And Hermione, our family’s guest of honor this evening. It’s lovely to meet you in more normal circumstances,” Lily’s father said, beaming at Hermione.

“More… normal circumstances?” Evan Rosier asked in confusion.

“Was I talking to you, Rosier?” Lily’s father said, turning his head to glare at him.

“No, my Lord, you were not,” he answered. Lily could tell thanks to Legilimency that he was anxious and worried that he had made himself be judged as unworthy.

“It’s an honor to meet you properly as well, my Lord,” Hermione said. Lily could see that her hand was shaking, and she held it under the table.

“See,  _ some  _ people know how to be polite,” Voldemort laughed. “Honestly, Rosier, being upstaged by a Muggle-born? How pathetic. But I suppose that’s why you’re not nearly as favored as you used to be,” He smiled, and turned to a house elf standing on the side of the room. “When it’s time for dessert, only bring out three place settings. The Rosiers will be going home.”

“Yes, Master!” the house elf squeaked.

Evan Rosier looked like he’d swallowed a particularly sour grape, and Lily couldn’t help but be amused. 

The Dark Lord barely said anything for the rest of the meal, and Lily took her cue from him and didn’t say much either. Everyone else on the table had no idea what to talk about when the Dark Lord had emphatically made a fool out of Evan Rosier, so the rest of the meal was eaten in near silence, and soon, the Rosiers were dismissed.

***

Once the Rosiers were out of earshot and Apparating back to their house, Voldemort turned to Lily and Hermione. “ _ Finally  _ they’re gone _ , _ ” he said in an exasperated voice. “This was an excuse to meet you properly, after all, Hermione.”

Hermione nearly spat out her water. “You staged a big, fancy dinner… to meet me?”

“I don’t do anything halfway, dear,” Voldemort smiled as a house elf slid a chocolate cake onto the table and sliced it with nonverbal magic. Three glasses on the table were also filled with elf-made wine.

The slices floated onto Lily, Hermione and the Dark Lord’s plates, and Lily could see that the cake had cherry filling.  _ Well, that’s definitely not an innuendo at all,  _ Lily thought, amused, as she started to eat her slice.

“I’m… beginning to see that, my Lord,” Hermione said, blushing as took a sip from her glass. “You… really think I upstaged a member of your Inner Circle?”

“Certainly you did tonight, and certainly you did when we pulled the Sword of Gryffindor out of the Sorting Hat together. I don’t think just anyone could have done that. You’re impressive, Hermione Black,” He smiled. “Speaking of that name, when are you planning on doing your Presentation?”  
Hermione seemed taken aback, but she quickly reacted. “Whenever you and Madame Lestrange think I’m ready, my Lord.”

“Well then, I suppose I will need to speak with Bellatrix soon, then,” he responded.

Lily could see Hermione’s eyes search over her father’s face. As she stared at him, he smiled patiently, and somewhat amused-looking.

“She… Bellatrix Lestrange. She brought you back to life,” Hermione managed to say.

“That she did,” He nodded. “And?”

“And… I mean, you call her by her first name. She’s very favored,” Hermione continued. “And I’m going to be Presented by her. Does that mean…”

“You’re also very favored?” Voldemort smiled. “An astute observation. Of course you are. Most of the wizarding world calls you the brightest witch of your age, and while they’re rather ignorant of any sort of brilliance from Dark witches and wizards, they are right that you’re intelligent and have a thirst of knowledge. You are my daughter’s, and she doesn’t choose associates who aren’t special.” 

“He’s right,” Lily contributed, as she drank some of her wine. 

“Imagine if McGonagall knew what we were  _ actually  _ doing this weekend,” Hermione laughed, face a little red. 

“She’d be scandalized,” Lily’s father winked. 

“Oh please, it’s not like there wasn’t alcohol available at the school paper party earlier this evening, and it’s not like underage students weren’t drinking it. And for the record, wine is better than beer or firewhiskey,” Lily rolled her eyes. “Honestly, the teachers at Hogwarts are  _ so  _ uptight. Except for Sinistra and Snape, of course,”

“Sinistra’s with the Death Eaters too?” Hermione asked, eyes wide. “Our new deputy Headmistress?”

“Bingo,” Lily said with a beam. “Which means I can tell her to cover for us, too.”

“And soon enough, those won’t be the only two members of the Dark Side at Hogwarts,” Lily’s father added, sipping at his wine.

“Wait, what?” Hermione asked, putting her glass down and staring at Voldemort.

“You’ll find out when I have something more concrete to tell you,” he said, laughing slightly. 

“Are you showing off, my Lord?” Hermione asked, raising an eyebrow. Lily barely kept herself from laughing. She was certain Hermione was flirting, and she was just glad that the alcohol hadn’t made her do something  _ truly  _ stupid. She’d been terrified that this dinner would’ve been a disaster, but it was actually going well. 

“It’s hardly showing off if I just tell you the truth,” Voldemort replied, then looked at his watch. “Well, it is getting rather late. I presume you’ll be staying here tonight?”

This time, Hermione’s tipsiness  _ did  _ impact her. She squeaked.

“Well, I’m certainly not going back to the Rosiers tonight,” Lily answered, and grabbed Hermione’s hand more tightly. “Come on, let’s go to my room.”


	41. A Weird Dream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lily and Hermione have sex for the first time, and have a weird "dream" together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Standard warning that this is very underage shit.

Lily guided Hermione through the winding halls of Slytherin Manor, eventually stopping at her bedroom. She’d barely spent any time there since the summer, and she was excited to be coming back to it with someone who was hers.

Hermione was decidedly tipsy from the small amount of wine she’d consumed, and Lily thought it was adorable. She was looking around the lavish room with wide eyes, amazed at how fancy everything was.

“So this is what wizarding royalty lives like?” she asked, flopping down on the bed. “And do you have food this good  _ every  _ night?”

“If we want to,” Lily said, collapsing on the bed next to Hermione and kissing her neck. “You wish you had this, don’t you?”

“Yes,” Hermione admitted in a quiet voice. “At least… I wish I could live with the Blacks and not my parents. They’re supportive to the best of their ability, but they don’t know anything about magic.”

“You can, you know,” Lily smiled, looking at her girlfriend. “It just wouldn’t exactly be… legal,” 

Hermione curled into Lily’s side, entangling her hand with Lily’s. She hesitated for a moment before she said “... Is it weird that I  _ really  _ like your dad?”

“I don’t think so,” Lily said, laughing a little. “I’d certainly hope you’d like him a lot… it’ll make future family dinners less awkward.” 

Hermione beamed, but then her face turned down again. “I might… really like him in a way that’s not okay,” she said in a quiet voice.

“How so?” asked Lily, although she was sure she knew how so.

“I… liked him spoiling me, and saying he favors me. I want him to do that more. I… think I’d like it if he touched me,” Hermione admitted.

“Like I touch you?” Lily reached up Hermione’s shirt to caress her breast.

Hermione squeaked. “Like that! But my parents say it’s not okay for me to be with anyone more than two years older than me…”

“Eva’s four years older and you like her,” Lily pointed out as she Vanished Hermione’s shirt and moved down to suck her chest. “And you’re allowed to do things with her.”

“That’s not… as much older though…” Hermione panted as Lily’s mouth explored her body.

“Yeah, well. He’s a king of wizards, just like I’m a princess. I think an exception can be made,” Lily smirked up at Hermione.

“If he… if he did stuff like what you’re doing… I wouldn’t mind his age,” Hermione gasped as Lily used magic to get rid of Hermione’s skirt and underwear.

“And do you think you’d like it if I fucked you?” Lily asked, sitting up on the bed.

Hermione’s eyes grew wide as Lily took off her own skirt and blouse. “I… yeah. A lot. Will you?”

“Ask nicely first. I’m sure he’ll want you to ask nicely too…” Lily winked.

Hermione’s voice turned into a fit of giggles, which eventually calmed down. “Please fuck me, my Princess,”

Lily smiled, and slipped her hand between Hermione’s leg, teasing her clit. Hermione cried out in pleasure, and even though she wasn’t presented yet, Lily could feel Hermione’s magic reaching out for her and aching to be claimed. She massaged between Hermione’s legs slowly, and Hermione’s breathing became faster. 

“My Princess… so good…” Hermione cried out, fidgeting on the bed and pushing herself closer to Lily’s hand.

“ _ You’re  _ so good,” Lily told her, leaning forward to kiss her. “Asking me for what you want, and calling me your Princess.”

“O-of course you are?” was all that Hermione could say, confused, before Lily slipped a finger inside her. She squirmed around on the bed, and her expression was blissful as Lily fucked her with her fingers.

“Mine,” Lily whispered.

“Yours…” Hermione moaned back, breathless. “You’re good…” She blinked up at Lily. “How many people have you… done this kind of thing with?”

“Three,” Lily lay back down on the bed. “Or four, depending on how you count things.”

An angry fire seemed to grow in Hermione, and she glared. “I hope you’re not counting  _ Snape.”  _

Lily shook her head. “No, I’m not. I’m just… not sure how to count a Horcrux of someone versus the main self.”

Hermione blinked up at Lily. “A Horcrux… your dad?  _ Tom? _ ”

“Both,” Lily shrugged, and then giggled. 

Hermione looked at her in awe. “Was it good?”

“‘Course it was good. He likes making sure I feel good,” Lily answered, smirking.

Hermione’s hand wavered over to Lily’s chest, and then pinched her right nipple. “Can I make you feel good too?”

“Of course,” Lily smiled. 

For someone who had never done anything before, Hermione was surprisingly good, Lily thought, as Hermione explored her body with her hands and mouth. Of course, she didn’t anticipate herself ever having the ability to think that Hermione was irredeemably  _ bad  _ at anything. And she was attentive - she paid attention to what made Lily make noises and hum in approval, and did more of that. When one of Hermione’s fingers plunged inside her, Lily squirmed. Being with her Hermione felt so  _ right.  _ She wished they’d done it sooner. She lifted up her mouth to claim Hermione’s in a kiss as Hermione moved her fingers around. 

“Good girl,” she whispered.

Hermione’s response to that was to kiss her harder, and push her fingers in and out of Lily at a more rapid pace. Lily sighed as she came, cuddling up to Hermione. “I love you,” The words slipped out not-entirely-on-purpose, and Hermione beamed. “I love you too.”

“Good, ‘cause you’re mine,” Lily said, playfully grabbing Hermione’s waist and pulling her closer. “My Hermione Black.”

Tangled in each other, Lily and Hermione drifted off to sleep. 

***

When Lily came to awareness, it wasn’t in the physical world. It felt  _ like  _ the real world, but a little different. Shadows shrouded her room, and everything was a little fuzzy. Strings of magic were even more visible than usual. Looking around, she saw Hermione sleeping on the bed next to her, and her father sitting on the edge of her bed. Although he didn’t look quite as old as he did usually. He looked more like a grown-up version of the Tom she’d seen in the diary, and not quite as inhuman.

“Father?” Lily blinked up at him.

“You’ve done a good job,” the dream version of her father said, pressing a kiss to her lips. The instant their lips touched, the scene shifted, and he was pushing into her while Hermione watched. It felt so real, but somehow not quite like real life. She came with a loud squeal, and Hermione’s eyes were wide as she watched the scene.

“My Lord…” she said in a soft voice. “That was beautiful.”

Her father put a hand on Hermione’s shoulder, and she could hear Hermione draw in a sharp breath, looking at him with wonder and longing in her eyes. “Will you…”

“Do you want me to fuck you?” His voice echoed in the room, even though it logically shouldn’t have. 

Hermione gasped. “Yes please, my Lord.”

“Well, I suppose my daughter has judged you worthy…” Her father smiled, and Lily watched, fascinated, as he conjured ropes to make sure that Hermione stayed still, and cast several charms, probably to make her first time with someone with his particular genital set-up easier. She could tell that either the charms or the magic of them aroused Hermione, as she moaned in pleasure. 

“So young…” her father said, his voice almost cracking. “So eager.”

Turned on by the magic, Hermione’s whispers had turned to pleas. “What do you say, Lily? Should I be the first man to fuck your girlfriend?” her father asked.

“I don’t think the honor should fall to anyone other than a Dark Lord,” was Lily’s somewhat teasing response.

Hermione gasped as Lily’s father entered her, pushing in and out of Hermione and making her gasp. Hermione’s hand, tied in place, tried to reach out for Lily, and Lily grabbed it.

“You can be good,” her father said, and Hermione nodded.

When her father had finished, spilling his cum all over Hermione and the bedsheets, he grabbed his wand and cast  _ Summagaudens  _ at Hermione. Lily could see the magic spark towards her and encase her body as Hermione cried out in a combination of pain and pleasure. Eyes watering slightly, she looked up at Voldemort. “Thank you, my Lord.”

***

The next morning, when Lily truly woke up, Hermione was curled up around her, having not moved much at all since the previous night. “I had a weird dream,” she muttered. “Weird, but good.”

With a small Legilimency probe, Lily could tell that the weird-but-good dream had been the same she’d had. “Me too,” she answered. 


	42. Presentation

The next morning, Lily and Hermione went to the veranda of Slytherin Manor for breakfast. Lily’s father kissed her cheek softly as she sat down, and she could tell that Hermione was watching with interest. 

“Did you sleep well?” he asked the girls, smiling at them.

“Yeah. Really well,” Hermione said with a smile.

“Me too, although we both had a strange dream, apparently,” Lily shrugged. She could see the corner of her father’s mouth turn up in a smirk.

“Well… it’s certainly good that you slept well, Hermione, because I’ve spoken with Bellatrix and we both think you’re ready for your Presentation today,” Voldemort told Hermione.

Hermione gasped, excited. “Really?”

“Really. But I figured you’d want to watch me summon her,” He leaned back in his chair and rolled up his sleeve, and pressed his finger to an empty swath of skin that Lily knew corresponded to the center of the Dark Mark on Death Eater’s arms. 

Lily could sense Hermione’s fascination as the Dark Lord removed his finger from his arm and Bellatrix soon materialized on the veranda. “My Lord, Princess Lily,” she said, curtsying to Lily and her father. “Are you ready?” she asked, looking at Hermione.

“Um, I’m eating breakfast, but I can stop…” was Hermione’s shaky response. 

“Nonsense, you can keep on eating,” the Dark Lord said. “I merely wished to call you here today, Bellatrix, to inform you that I believe Hermione is ready to do her Presentation. Would you please set up the area for the ritual in the gardens, and when you’re done with that run the bath for her?”

“Of course, my Lord,” Bellatrix nodded, and stood up to leave. Lily could see Hermione blushing at the thought of her foster presenter running the bath for her. That was fairly traditional and not actually special treatment, but Lily didn’t see any reason to bring Hermione down from her high of feeling special.

By the time Hermione was finished eating, the ritual was set up and the bath was drawn, and Bellatrix came back to take her away. Lily looked at her father, smiling. 

“An hour alone while your girlfriend takes her bath and prepares for the ritual. Whatever shall we do?” Lily’s father asked with a teasing smile.

“Well…” Lily smiled back at him. “You can start by telling me why Hermione and I both had the same dream involving you having sex with both of us, perhaps, my Lord,”

He laughed. “A dream, was it?”

“Well, frankly, I hoped it wasn’t,” Lily answered. “And I’m sure that Hermione hoped the same thing. Was it real?”

“As real as your interactions with the diary-bound version of myself,” was her father’s response, as he reached a hand forward to cup her cheek. “Effectively… as real as you want to consider interactions that occured in a more magical realm.”

“It would be rather traitorous to Magic, and to Her Champion, to think that those interactions were  _ less  _ real than ones that occured in the physical world, wouldn’t it?” Lily asked, leaning closer to her father.

“Good point,” her father said, as he placed a kiss on her cheek, tantalizingly close to her lips. He then drew back, leaving his face only inches from hers. “And a very good girl. You’ve chosen a worthy potential future consort… and I’m pleased that she wants me and approves of the two of us together. Otherwise, things could get… quite awkward,” The harsh edge to his voice was at once terrifying and attractive. Somehow, Lily  _ liked  _ the implication that he would assert his power and get rid of any potential future consort who didn’t approve of their relationship or who didn’t like him. She liked that he wanted to keep her, and their relationship, safe from the rest of the world. 

“Of course you do. You’re  _ mine,  _ and you’ll do well not to forget it,” Her father’s voice came crashing into her mind, and she could feel the rune on her chest burn with an ache of wanting him and anticipating being claimed again by him in a more physical plane. His lips crashed against hers and his hand curled around her neck, pulling her closer and onto his lap. Lily squeaked, something not particularly characteristic of her, feeling dwarfed by him in many ways.

“I won’t forget it, my Lord. How could I?” Once he’d stopped kissing her so feverently, and her mind had stopped spinning, she managed to gain her composure and respond. His hand was still on the small of her back, feeling like it was almost burning into her skin. If this was how hard it was to focus around him now, when they’d only had the kind of the relationship they were having for part of a school year…

“It’ll easily get harder, and the bond will become less stable” he said inside her mind, as he attacked her neck with kisses, “Unless…”

“Unless?” Lily asked, blinking up at him.

He removed his mouth from her neck, and looked at her, speaking to her in a softer voice. He did  _ not  _ quit making her feel him, or making her feel overwhelmed, Lily noticed, as his hand slipped underneath her skirt and past her underwear. “Unless we do something to stabilize the bond.”

“Like what?” Lily managed to force out, as his fingers moved in and out of her at an agonizingly slow pace.

“Like a courtship,” he said, and as he said the word, the world seemed to grow softer around Lily, and her magic seemed to sing in response. “You’ll be having one with your official consort eventually, of course, but with a bond as intense as ours there will be a need to appease Magic and make sure She knows we intend to be together for a long time, as opposed to just cut and run and leave everything confusing,” He kissed her softly.

Lily squirmed on his lap, wanting his fingers to move faster, wanting him to properly  _ fuck  _ her. “It… makes sense,” she said.

“It doesn’t have to be right now, but think about it,” It didn’t sound like a request - it sounded like an order, especially with how it was followed up. “Otherwise this - us - can’t last much longer, and I don’t think either of us would like that.”

“I’ll definitely think about it. I want you,” Lily responded, unconsciously squeezing her legs in a search for friction.

“I know, and that’s why you’re such a good girl,” Her father smiled and leaned forward to kiss her again, and finally started fucking her properly. She moaned in happiness as he pushed her body, which was nearly already there, to climax, and then she leaned on his chest, curled in his arms. The burning desire seemed mostly calmed now, just a flicker instead of an inferno.

***

“Welcome, Hermione Black. You stand here having declared your desire to present yourself to Lady Magic, the source of the magic in our blood and the reason for the power we wield, as Her own child. Does your intent remain the same?” Lily shivered, feeling the power in the air as Bellatrix spoke the opening words of the Rite of Presentation. She, Hermione, the twins and their father, and Lily’s father were all standing in the garden of Slytherin Manor, where Hermione was having her Presentation.

“It does,” Hermione answered, voice surprisingly steady.

“The Lady rejoices in welcoming Her chosen who seek Her freely.” Bellatrix responded, per the script.

“I am honored to bear Magic’s gift, and to have the chance to seek Her acknowledgment and blessing,” was Hermione’s response. The wind rustled the trees, and Hermione looked up, anxious. Bellatrix put a hand on her shoulder, calming her.

“Then you are most welcome, Hermione Black, to join those of us who have chosen the path of embracing the traditions of our magical heritage,” Bellatrix said. Lily could see the soft smile on her face, and the barely-contained glee of her daughters at having another magical sister - and saving a Muggle-born from only experiencing magic through the lens of someone like Albus Dumbledore.

“That is my intention and desire,” Hermione said.

Bellatrix lifted a white candle, engraved with Hermione’s magical name, from the garden bench, and held it up. “I invite Lady Magic to greet and bless Hermione Black, Her child.”

Hermione took a deep breath. “I, Hermione Black, present myself before Magic: mother, guide, and source of the power of our blood. I seek to learn, to know, to feel, and to reach my full potential as a child of Magic,” She leaned forward and breathed on the wick of the candle. Her eyes lit up when a flame roared to life. 

“I did it!” She jumped up and down. “I did it! I’m not a Mudblood!”

“Of course you’re not!” Lily ran forward, hugging and kissing Hermione. “You could never be.”

Rodolphus, Bellatrix’s husband, merely raised an eyebrow, and Lily realized that he must not know about the scar.

With any luck, he’d never have to. 


	43. Coronation Day

That afternoon, Lily and Hermione returned to Hogwarts along with Eva, after having used the Floo network to get to the Rosiers. Travel wasn’t  _ very _ traceable, but they did want to make sure that it looked like they’d been together. 

Upon arriving back in the Headmistress’s office, they saw McGonagall, who looked frazzled. “Thank goodness you’re back,” she said, looking up at Lily. “Perhaps you can calm down the students some.”

Lily blinked at McGonagall. “What’s happening?”

“The first issue of some school paper called the  _ Phoenix Gazette  _ was released today, at breakfast. The students have been calling for an end to any censorship or blockage of mail. That’s dangerous, of course! Students simply can’t be allowed to write to people in Azkaban,” McGonagall paced around the office, flustered.

“With all due respect, Headmistress… my father was placed in Azkaban when I was an infant, and wasn’t released until it was made clear that his actions had been taken under the Imperius Curse. What if he hadn’t been released, and I’d gone all of Hogwarts with no communication with my father, who ultimately was revealed to be innocent?” Eva asked, raising an eyebrow.

The headmistress stuttered. “Well, of course the wards don’t prevent letters from former Azkaban inmates who were declared innocent.”

“What about ones who might be, but are still in the prison? Dumbledore himself was almost placed in Azkaban, but ended up not being sent there despite having  _ literally performed an Unforgivable.  _ Breaking the spirit or letter of the law isn’t always enough to land someone in Azkaban, and there are people in Azkaban who can’t be proved guilty. The justice system of wizarding Britain is a farce, and you know it, Headmistress. Our former headmaster has said as much.” Eva stared at McGonagall, arms folded, while Hermione stared at her in awe.

“Thank you for your input, Miss Rosier, but I was not speaking with you,” McGonagall said, turning back to Lily. “Do you think you will be able to calm down the students? They’re claiming the article quotes you, and that you’re in favor of the release of the paper.”

Lily blinked at McGonagall, doing her best to maintain an innocent facade. “I’m afraid I can’t, Headmistress. What they’re saying is true, and even if the  _ Daily Prophet  _ is a product of a corrupt Ministry, banning it won’t help anything. It will just make students want to get it more.”

McGonagall blinked at at Lily. “You do make a logical point.”

“I try to do that, even if I’m not a Ravenclaw,” Lily said, laughing. “So, uh, should we go to our common rooms now?”

“Yes, I do believe that would be the most prudent idea. Students are currently only allowed in their common rooms or the library, with the escort of a Prefect, and since Miss Rosier is a Prefect of Slytherin, she should be returning to her common room so she can fulfill her duty of supervising the students,” was McGonagall’s response.

All three girls nodded, and left the office.

“Holy shit, she’s actually sort of reasonable!” was Eva’s shocked comment once they were out of hearing range of the office.

“I guess I can see why she was a Slytherin for the first five years of her Hogwarts education,” Lily said, smirking.

“She was a  _ what _ ?” Eva gaped at her, and Hermione gasped.

“Yeah, until she got tired of how few morals Slytherins have,” Lily laughed. “She told me, the day she talked to me after I got pissed at Malfoy and told him not to call people Mudbloods,”

“A lesson his friends didn’t take to heart…” mumbled Hermione. “I can see why she ended up being uncomfortable in Slytherin.”

Lily, feeling a sudden rush of protectiveness, pinned Hermione against the wall in a kiss. “You’ll always be safe in Slytherin, as long as I’m around,” she said, when she broke the kiss. “And I know someone even more powerful than me who will protect you, too.”

Eva’s eyes grew wide again as she processed what Lily had said. She didn’t say anything in response, but it was clear that she knew just how much the Dark Lord had decided he favored the little Gryffindor.

***

“She’s back!” the Weasley twins cried out when Lily entered the Gryffindor common room, with Hermione by her side. 

“I can’t believe the Ministry made you ditch us for members of the ‘Sacred Twenty-Eight’!” Ron said, speaking the last bit with a snide tone. “How horrible was it?”

“Well, they insisted on calling Hermione my friend even though they knew she’s my girlfriend,” Lily said, rolling her eyes as she flopped down on one of the couches in the Gryffindor common room.

“I think our Princess could use some cheering up, don’t you, Fred?” George asked, turning to his brother.

“I most certainly think so too, George! I think it’s time for our surprise!” Fred beamed. At his loud mention of the word “surprise”, most of the Gryffindors turned to the twins with interest. 

George saluted Fred, and ran up the steps of the common room to get the mysterious surprise as Percy awkwardly instructed her to sit by the fireplace. Lily shrugged and obliged, as she certainly didn’t mind sitting in the place that was the most visible in the common room.

When George returned with the surprise, Lily’s eyes widened and she beamed. It was a crown, and it looked like it was made out of real gold, and real rubies. Okay, probably not “real”, because it was clearly magically created, but just because something was made out of magic didn’t mean it wasn’t significant. In fact, if the twins had so lovingly created a  _ crown  _ for her, that was pretty significant. They were hers, even if they hadn’t been branded with the Mark.

“Perce, will you do the honors? I mean, you are a Prefect,” George said. Lily had to stifle a laugh as Percy took the crown gingerly in his hands and walked over to Lily, sitting by the fireplace. 

“With the authority vested in me as a Prefect of Gryffindor House, and the oldest student in the Weasley family, and with the unanimous approval of Gryffindor House, I hereby crown you Princess Lily Potter of Gryffindor House and heiress to Godric Gryffindor,” The common room had fallen oddly silent, and Lily realized that like the twins crafting a crown for her out of their own magic, this would be a magically binding action. She didn’t like that Percy had to do it, but he’d gotten the words just right - the Weasley family would feel at least somewhat magically bound to her and Gryffindor House  _ certainly  _ would. Both current students, and graduates. Godric Gryffindor wasn’t around to actually acknowledge her as his heir, like Slytherin had been when her father had been the Slytherin Prince and at Hogwarts, but this  _ would  _ be binding.

“I accept,” she said.

Percy placed the crown on her head, and Lily could feel her magic reaching out and testing the students in the common room. They were loyal to her - fairly unquestionably. And apparently, all it had taken was starting up a paper that was against school rules, and not dying for the second time when cursed with the Killing Curse. Okay, so maybe that was kind of a lot.


	44. History Repeats Itself

As Lily lay in her bed in the Gryffindor common room, she could feel Tom connecting to her through the rune on her chest, and whispering to her.  _ “So many more loyal subjects,”  _ he whispered, sounding almost enthralled by her.  _ “Weasleys, loyal to the Dark Lord’s daughter. Who would’ve thought it?” _

“They think I’m badass,” was Lily’s response. She was indeed amused by the Weasley twins’ loyalties, although the loyalty of Percy was less surprising. 

“And you’re the Gryffindor Princess, just as I am - was - the Slytherin Prince,” She could feel Tom smirking. “You know, it will be easy now.”

“What will be?” Lily asked, figuring he meant controlling the Gryffindors, but it didn’t hurt to check.

“Reuniting me with my main self,” was Tom’s response. “After all, I doubt you’d want to use one of your  _ Slytherins _ to take the fall for you opening the Chamber, seeing as you’ve already killed the ones you’ve deemed unworthy.”

Lily didn’t respond immediately, although she felt bits of Tom’s energy poking at her, trying to get a response out of her. She didn’t want to, but she felt guilty about what she knew she had to do. Betray a Gryffindor who’d pledged loyalty to her, use them as a pawn; just as her father had done with Rubeus Hagrid, half a century ago.

“I mean, of course it’ll be Fred,” Lily said, trying not to tremble. “He’s been obnoxious ever since I arrived at Hogwarts - aggressive towards Ginny and Draco and not caring how badly the Dursleys treated me - he doesn’t understand anything about Magic, and doesn’t want to…”

“And now he’s loyal to you,” Tom said. Lily could tell that it wasn’t  _ just  _ sixteen-year-old Tom Riddle egging her on and telling her what to do - her Othala scar burned, but in a pleasant way, and she was aware that her father was listening to the conversation and approving.

“Are you ready?” she asked, her voice a little shaky. “To be… not your own person?” She was also asking her father, although she didn’t know if he would answer. Was he ready to become one person with the sixteen-year-old boy who he’d punished so much for messing up when it came to getting the loyalty of Minerva McGonagall?

The minutes stretched out, and Tom finally replied to her. “It doesn’t matter whether I am or not.”

***

It was clear the next morning that everything had changed now that Lily was officially magically recognized as the princess of Gryffindor House. When she walked down to breakfast, the whole house quieted down as they all watched her carefully. And the center seat of the table, as well as the one next to it, was empty. Lily beamed and squeezed Hermione’s seat as she sat down. 

“You really are their Princess,” Hermione said in an awed voice.

“Yep!” Lily said with a beam, but she was really thinking  _ Finally… _

Across the Great Hall, the Slytherins looked at their rival house with what mostly amounted to vaguely impressed confusion. The Hufflepuffs seemed oblivious to the change, while some of the Ravenclaws watched with keen interest. Up at the high table, Headmistress McGonagall looked exasperated, while the rest of the teachers observed the goings-on in the Great Hall with varying degrees of interest, except for Snape, who maintained as stoic an expression as always.

“Hey Fred, we should talk later,” Lily said, leaning forward on the table to talk to the leader of the Weasley twins.

“Of course, my Princess!” Fred said, beaming.

***

“I guess you’re asking about the map!” Fred said eagerly. He and Lily were sitting in the corner of the Gryffindor common room, Lily having put up shielding charms so that no one would overhear their conversation. 

Lily had no idea what Fred was talking about, but she also knew how to get information out of people. “Well... yeah,” she ‘admitted’, with a shy smile.

Fred beamed as he took a piece of parchment outside of his robes. He cleared his throat and tapped it with his wand. “I solemnly swear I am up to no good.”

At his command, the piece of parchment transformed, and opened itself up, revealing a map of Hogwarts, with labels of many different people walking around the halls. “Messers Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs, Purveyors of Aid to Magical Mischief-Makers, are proud to present THE MARAUDER’S MAP”, was written at the top of the parchment. 

“Who are Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs?” Lily asked, blinking as she tried to hold back the rising anxiety in her body. There she was - sitting right next to Fred Weasley. Had the Map trailed her to the Chamber of Secrets?

“No idea, but whoever they were, they’re clearly brilliant,” Fred beamed. “I mean, the map’s not perfect - seems like there’s a bug or something where it thinks Ron is the same person as some dude named Peter Pettigrew and labels him as both, and it’s  _ definitely  _ lost track of people before, but it’s been invaluable for my mischief-making with George.”

His face fell a bit. “And I suppose you want it now that you’re Gryffindor’s Princess. I mean, you do deserve it.”

“Yeah, that’d be… wonderful,” Lily said, blinking at the map. How on earth would it think Ron was the same person as someone named Peter Pettigrew? Was he a Horcrux too? Or someone named Peter Pettigrew reincarnated? “Uh, one question. When I had a bit of Voldemort’s soul inside me, did it label me with one of those dual labels too?”

“Nah, but it claims there’s someone named Riddle chilling out in our dormitories, and claimed he was wandering the corridors on Halloween.” Fred shrugged. “Maybe it’s an incorporeal Gryffindor ghost or something! Wouldn’t that be epic?”

“Yeah, it really would be,” Lily said as she grabbed up the map, her heart beating fast. She was  _ so  _ lucky the Weasley twins were idiots who didn’t know her father’s real name. And troublemakers who hadn’t told Dumbledore or McGonagall that there were weird people named Tom Riddle and Peter Pettigrew making their way around Hogwarts. 

“We got it from Filch’s office in our first year,” Fred beamed. “Filched it ourselves, you might say.”

“It’s perfect for pranking,” Lily beamed, trying to continue her deception of Fred. “And a prank was actually something I wanted to do to close out the school year. Think you can help me?”

Fred’s eyes grew wide. “Helping the Gryffindor Princess with an end of year prank? Of course I’m in!”

Lily explained the “prank”, and Fred continually got more excited, especially when she mentioned stealing Polyjuice Potion from Professor Snape’s storeroom. “It’s going to be epic,” She beamed.

“Wait, why do we have to be polyjuiced as each other?” Fred asked, blinking.

Lily reached over and plucked a hair from Fred’s head. “Don’t you trust me?”

“Well, of course,” Fred said, after “ow!”

“Then trust your Princess that this is going to be the most epic prank ever,” Lily said, beaming as she felt dread settle in the pit of her stomach. 


	45. So It Goes

Diary in hand, Lily sat with Fred in the Potions storeroom. “Ready for the most brilliant prank ever?” she asked, smirking to cover up the fact that she wasn’t ready at all.

“Merlin’s beard, am I! Hey, I mean, I get to look like a super hot  _ Princess,  _ and be alone in the girl’s dorm. This’ll be fun,” Fred beamed, and Lily rolled her eyes. She knew  _ exactly  _ what he was insinuating he was going to get up to - and you know what, he could. He could feel free to masturbate in Lily’s body on what was sure to be his last day at Hogwarts. 

Soon, after the most pain that Fred had experienced since Lily’s accidental Cruciatus Curse, Lily and Fred were transformed into each other. Lily stood up, beaming at her new temporary form.  _ Perfect.  _

Fred looked stunned, staring at his incredibly female body. “I really hope George doesn’t want to have sex with me now,” he mumbled.

Lily snorted. “So long as you don’t make people think that it was actually me, knock yourself out. And make sure you’re at the top of the astronomy tower an hour from now.” She then walked away from the slightly dazed Weasley.

She’d made sure that her Slytherins would be “witnesses” at several key points from “Fred”’s trip from the Chamber of Secrets to the Astronomy Tower. And of course, once he got there, the potion would have worn off, and she would have already tossed the very dead Colin Creevey off the Astronomy Tower to make it look like he’d either fallen on purpose or been pushed. A Confundus charm would be the final part - combined with the magical power she held over him, Fred Weasley would truly believe he’d killed Creevey in the Chamber of Secrets and tried to brush it off as a suicide, at least for an hour or so. And once he’d confessed, there would be no going back. The perfect part was that he wouldn’t even know where the Chamber was. 

***

She found Colin Creevey in the library, exactly as she’d expected. “Weasley?” he asked, wide-eyed, when she plopped down next to him. 

“Yeah. It’s time for your Gryffindor initiation, Creevey,” She beamed. “Come with me.”

“Wait… initiation?” Creevey asked. “You mean, like hazing?”

“Bingo.” Fred winked. “All of the other boys have done theirs already. You wouldn’t want to disappoint your Princess by being the only Gryffindor boy to not have passed the initiation, right?”

“No, not at all!” Bloody hell, this is almost too easy, Lily thought, as Creevey jumped out of the chair. 

_ “Silencio Feverus,”  _ she cast at him, unable to resist doing the dark version of the spell. Creevey’s eyes grew wide as he realized that either Gryffindor hazing was truly dangerous, or something was amiss. He didn’t have any time to stop what was happening, though, as Lily pulled him up and under the Invisibility Cloak and told him to cooperate or else. 

Upon arriving in the Chamber, she shed the Invisibility Cloak and stuck Creevey to the floor. He was growing more and more anxious, and she was sure that if she hadn’t cast the dark silencing curse on him, he’d be blathering at her. She arranged the mistletoe berries and tiger eye crystals on the points of the pentagram that she’d drawn around Creevey, and sat the diary down in the pentagram with him. 

Lily closed her eyes and used her magic to reach out for the connection to her father through the Othala rune, knowing that even if it didn’t physically exist on her in her current form it would still be tied to her magic. Of course, Creevey had to try to interrupt the moment by finally letting loose a scream, which was made more painful by the magical punishment for making a sound. She ignored the noise and continued reaching out through her magic.

Tethered by his connection to Lily and to the diary, her father began to flicker into existence, prompting Creevey to look at his form in horror. “This is the sacrifice?” he asked, emotionless.

“Yes, Father,” Lily said, and couldn’t help but smirk as Colin’s eyes rolled back into his head and he fainted.

He snorted. “You really did choose an unworthy mudblood. My good girl,” Lily was filled with warmth at her father’s praise, but was also anxious. For so long, she’d said that someone under 17 couldn’t be a Mudblood, and that the entire Dark Side believed that too - at least the worthy ones. Was Colin Creevey just a strange exception?

She was unable to look away - maybe because of the magic, and maybe because of her fixation on the situation - as her father drew his wand from his robes and pointed it at Creevey  _ “Avada Kedavra.”  _

As soon as the light left Creevey’s eyes, Lily could see the tendrils of magic streaming up from the diary and towards her father. She’d thought he just looked  _ normal  _ before, but as they twisted into him, she could see his form become more steady, and more earthly than he’d been before - although it seemed that he was becoming younger looking, thanks to the relatively young age of the diary Horcrux. 

Once the transformation was complete, her father stepped out of the pentagram, and wandlessly pushed Colin Creevey’s body over to Lily, before vanishing all of the spell ingredients. Lily could feel the raw power emanating from him, now that he’d reabsorbed a whole half of his soul, and the magic in her chest calling out to him. He simply grabbed the Invisibility Cloak. “Go on with the plan. I’ll take this and use the gate in Snape’s office to go back to Malfoy Manor. You can get it back from Snape.”

Lily nodded, body feeling unexpectedly stiff. She knew that regardless of how horrible everything that had happened felt, she needed to follow his orders. She’d made her choice a long time ago.

***

Lily made sure that “Fred” had plenty of witnesses as “he” strode through the back way from the Chamber of Secrets to the Astronomy Tower. True to their duty, or perhaps motivated by more standard human emotions, the Slytherin girls standing in the Astronomy Tower gasped at the levitating corpse, and as “Fred” tossed it over the side of the Astronomy Tower. Lily then checked her watch. One minute until the hour mark where they would transform back.

True to his word and to her order, Fred bounded up the steps to the tower. Lily darted to his side and pushed him to the wall of the tower, as he looked at her with fearful confusion. She then stood back on the stairs, as the potion wore off.

The eldest Slytherin girl screamed, and in a false panic yelled “ _ Vermillious Tria!”  _ shooting a massive burst of red sparks into the air. Lily’s heart felt like it was beating so hard it might tear out of her chest. Fred stared at her with a shocked expression, looking between her and the dislocated corpse of Colin Creevey at the bottom of the Astronomy Tower, before she cast the Confundus charm at him. 

Fred collapsed against the wall, staring blankly into space, as Professor Sinistra, accompanied by Flitwick, rushed to the top of the Astronomy Tower. “What happened?”

***

That night, Lily lay in her bed in Slytherin Manor, arms wrapped around her chest. Thanks to the massive panic that had ensued at the  _ true  _ murderer being uncovered, stripped of his wand and sent to Azkaban, final exams had been cancelled and all of the students had been sent home. Apparently, O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s would be specially administered over the summer once the Ministry had sorted out everything. 

Lily’s father had barely talked to her that evening, only telling her that she’d done a good job, kissing her forehead and heading to his own bedroom to sleep off what had no doubt been a strenuous ritual. The rune on her chest felt strangely empty, and her mind was filled with visions of Fred Weasley, whose only crime had been not coming to her side sooner, stuck in Azkaban, and Colin Creevey’s death. She clenched her fists, trying to push the visions out of her mind. She didn’t want to be the tool McGonagall had said anyone Tom Riddle protected would become. 

What if it  _ was _ too late? 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Book 3, THE HOPELESS ONES, coming soon :)
> 
> After the Phoenix Gazette's back-to-school party is attacked by a Death Eater - presumed recent Azkaban escapee Sirius Black, although Lily knows it wasn't - and the lives of most of the Gryffindor students are threatened, the Wizarding World is on high alert.
> 
> Dementors patrol the Hogwarts Express, guard the grounds of Hogwarts and terrify the students, at the command of Cornelius Fudge. Fear rules at Hogwarts, as Lily tries to continue her quest to turn more students to the Dark Side. And while Lily tries to keep her godfather and foster father from killing each other, her foster father is more interested in seducing Headmistress McGonagall.
> 
> It's going to be an interesting school year for sure.


End file.
